Turkish investor fined Shs 200m, ordered to restore wetland in 30 days

The Standards Utilities and Wildlife court has ordered Turkish national also director of Yamani Construction Limited, Kerim Ray to pay a fine of Shs 200 million and also restore Lwajjali wetland in Mukono district.

Ray through his company pleaded guilty to encroaching upon Lwajjali wetland after filling it with murram. Chief magistrate Gladys Kamasanyu sentenced Ray to a fine of Shs 150 million and in default, five years in prison for the first count.

He was ordered to pay another Shs 50 million for depositing murram in the wetland, and in default, serve two years in prison for the second count. The sentence on money is cumulative while the jail term is to run concurrently. The court also ordered Ray to restore the wetland within 30 days from the day of sentence under the inspection of the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA).

The case against Ray stemmed from an inspection report that found that his company had started clearing vegetation and backfilling murram in the wetland area. Ray was particularly convicted following his plea of guilt of failure to comply with the conditions stipulated in the certificate of approval of a project brief of environmental social impact assessment, contrary to the National Environmental Act.

The court heard that on June 30, 2024, at Gongobe village, Seeta Goma division, Mukono district, Ray failed to comply with the conditions of the environment and social impact assessment certificate number 18516 issued to Yaman Construction Limited by extending beyond the area authorized in the certificate of approval.

It was the prosecution’s case that on the same day, the convicts deposited murram into a section of Lwajjali wetland system measuring 0.8 acres without authorization from the lead agency. While sentencing Ray, magistrate Kamasanyu considered the fact that the convict pleaded guilty to the offences and spared him the maximum penalty of paying Shs 2.6 billion in fines or serving 26 years in jail.

The magistrate reasoned that Ray did not waste court’s time and resources and therefore earned himself a lenient sentence. Ray was jointly convicted with a Ugandan national, Eric Avunalo, who was sentenced to caution after he pleaded that he did not know that the area where he was backfilling with murram was out of the approved area since he was acting on the instructions of his employer.

The court observed that wetlands are very important in the ecosystem since they filter solid waste, drain water, and are home to aquatic life.

“Uganda has suffered the consequences of destroying wetlands such as floods even in the heart of the city, there is plenty of evidence, people have lost lives and property,” said Kamasanyu.

She added that wetlands reduce the effects of flooding, retain waste, reduce the speed of the flow of water, and hence restore water while releasing it slowly. 

“Wetlands are also home to fish and wildlife and other microorganisms even those we don’t see with our eyes,” added Kamasanyu.

The court further observed that Ray should be helped to reform and respect the laws of Uganda in case he has a future project to run. He was advised that he has a right to appeal within 14 days from today. Meanwhile, the same court has remanded seven Chinese nationals to Luzira prison on charges of disturbing a wetland by drilling.

Court heard that Liang Cheng Wu, Ui Wen Hu, Lian Cheng Xiang, Hu Dong Xu, Ge Xing Liang, Wang Peichuan and others still at large on July 8, 2024, at Kamuwunga village, Magezi Kizungu Parish Lukaya town council in Kalungu district, disturbed Lwera wetland by drilling it in a manner that is likely to destroy it.

Prosecution’s Judith Nyamwiza told the court that the inquiries in the matter were incomplete and it would take them two weeks to finalize them. She prayed for a shorter adjournment to organize the sureties. They were accordingly remanded until July 30 to fix their hearing and bail application.