Kololo residents complain about noise pollution in vain

The once-quiet neighbourhood of upscale Kololo is fast turning into the most vibrant place to hang out from, especially for the affluent Ugandans.

The busiest places at night are on John Babiiha avenue, popularly known as Acacia avenue, and Archer road which connects Kololo and Lugogo. On any given weekend, the hangouts in the area play blaring music while patrons end up filling up every space on the roadside, including walkways. It is big business.

However, as the bar business continues to thrive in Kololo, it has brought a discomforting toll on residents in the area. In spite of several efforts to get the bars to reduce noise pollution, there has been little headway to this and, according to several sources, the bars are mostly owned by well-connected people whom enforcement authorities also fear.

Back in January, 2022, residents of Kololo, including diplomats, decried the high levels of noise pollution from the hangouts. In a diplomatic note sent to the ministry of Foreign Affairs, the European Union delegation to Uganda complained about the extremely loud music played every night by Lazio bar and restaurant located along Archer road.

“Our diplomat residing along Archer road has not been able to sleep ever since the restrictions on bars were lifted,” the note read in part.

Martin Aroma, the chairperson of Kololo Neighborhood Watch, an organization that brings together the residents of Kololo, said in spite of several complaints, the noise from Lazio has not dropped.

“All of us have complained. I have also received complaints from the residencies of the ambassadors of Germany, America, Italy and Russia, among others. We have petitioned KCCA and Nema without any success,” he said.

NEGATIVE IMPACT

In February 2019, five residents of Kololo, led by Winnie Byanyima, the executive director of UNAIDS, dragged seven Kololo bars to court over noise pollution. The bars sued include Casablanca, H2O, Big Mike’s, Atmosphere and Wave Lounge. The case is yet to be decided.

Aroma said the problem of noise pollution around Kololo stems from the decision by KCCA to convert Kololo from a residential area into a mixed-use area. This, he said, has seen a significant increase in the number of bars and other happening places around Kololo.

“The bars operate between 6pm and 6am daily yet we have schools, residences and hospitals in the same area.”

Besides Lazio, other bars accused of disturbing the peace of the Kololo residents include Molecule located along Impala avenue; Kush and Bubbles, all located along Acacia avenue as well as the Liquor Shade along Kayunga road, among others. Aroma said the blaring noise at night has sent away several residents and tenants.

“Several apartments around Kololo are empty. People invested their money thinking it was a residential area. When the bars were allowed into the area, tenants left. Most new apartments are unoccupied because tenants don’t like the noise. Since Kololo is a high-end residential area, it is very difficult to find a replacement for a client when one has left a house. These residences are very expensive. It also affects the house owners since they now lose a source of income”.

Away from the noise pollution, Aroma noted that some residents had reported break-ins in their homes from suspected patrons of the bars around Kololo. He said the absence of parking space for several bars in the area has pushed the bar patrons to park on the pavements and in the driveways to people’s private residences. This, he said, also presents a security challenge to the residents in the area.

“Kololo is a residential area. When these people come to the bars, they block the roads. In some cases, we can’t even access our private homes.”

HOW IT STARTED

In February, 2022, residents of Kololo led by Aroma petitioned Dorothy Kisaka, the executive director of KCCA, about the noise pollution from the bars operating in their area. In a February 25, 2022 reply, Kisaka instructed Daniel Okello Ayen, KCCA’s director for Public Health and Environment, to follow up on the matter.

By October 2022, the discussions between KCCA and the Kololo residents had broken down.

“We were meant to have meetings with Okello every Monday to monitor the changes. Okello started staying away from our meetings. We later learnt that Okello was afraid of Georgina Nyangoma, a staff at KCCA, backing the operations of Lazio. Nyangoma claims to be related to members of the first family. If all the avenues fail, we will drag KCCA to court,” Aroma said.

Meanwhile, Osbert Amumpeire, the manager at Lazio, declined to comment on the matter. “I am not allowed to comment on the subject. I will share your contact with my bosses” he said.

NEMA

Speaking to The Observer, Dr Akankwasah Barirega, the Nema executive director, confirmed receipt of complaints from the Kololo community about the noise pollution from the bars operating within the area. He noted that although the supervision of noise is done by urban authorities such as KCCA, Nema had taken on the matter since it falls within their docket on a larger scale.

“Although the complainants want quick justice, we are following up on the matter. We have been taking readings over a period to establish a trend of sound decibels from these bars and restaurants. When we find that the noise from the bars is above the said levels, we issue an improvement notice. We then monitor to see whether the noise from the bars has reduced to acceptable levels. If it has not, we will proceed to impound the equipment and subsequently prosecute the perpetrators in court.”

Barirega faulted the KCCA authorities for converting the status of Kololo from residential to mixed-use.

“Although were not consulted, I got to learn that KCCA changed the status of Kololo from residential to a mixed-use area. Why would you license a bar in a residential area? This issue of mixed-use is not right. You are simply creating a dispute right from the time of approving the license of these bars and restaurants in a residential area. Urban planners must jointly work with Nema to improve the quality of planning across the country. The bars and restaurants operating in Kololo must recognize that they are not discotheques. They are operating in residential areas where people want to enjoy the peace of their homes.”

An inspection report conducted by Nema at 11pm on April 25, 2023, at Lazio bar indicated that the noise from the bar ranged between 60 decibels and 62 decibels. This is above the permissible limit of 45 decibels at night as stipulated in the Nema noise standard and control regulations of 2003.

Interviewed, Simon Kasyate, the KCCA spokesperson, said: “Since you are a newspaper, please share the questions via email and I will respond to them.” Kasyate had not responded to the questions by press time.