Dr. Noah Wekesa

All parliamentary appearances

Entries 201 to 210 of 524.

• 28 Jul 2011 in National Assembly: (a) Yes, I am aware that the KFS has commenced a legal and consultative process to gazette an additional 2,733.61 hectares or pockets of ecologically sensitive forest areas in Gwassi Hills, which constitute a vital water catchment land as a source of rivers and streams. These pockets or forests were left out during an earlier gazettement process in 2005 where an area of approximately 4,835.7 hectares of the Gwassi Hills was gazetted as a forest area for protection of water catchment. The intention to gazette the additional pockets of Gwassi Hill Forest was as a result of public hue and ... view
• 28 Jul 2011 in National Assembly: Arising from the massive destruction of the water catchment, the Suba County Council in consultation with the local leaders and ourselves, the Department of Land Adjudication and other stakeholders arrived at the decision of gazetting the remaining pockets of forest for proper protection. The forest intended to be gazetted falls under adjudicated land held under the trust of the Suba County Council and the KFS has no intention of gazetting private land. view
• 28 Jul 2011 in National Assembly: (b) During a survey exercise carried out in May 2010 to map out the areas to be gazetted, there arose disagreements on the exact areas that could qualify for gazettement as one of the blocks was noted to have been adjudicated earlier. As a result, the process was suspended awaiting further consultation to identify the areas already adjudicated so as to exclude these areas from the gazettement process. The consultations are still ongoing between the Suba County Council, the KFS, the Department of Land Adjudication, local leaders, the local residents and other stakeholders to identify areas already adjudicated, so as ... view
• 28 Jul 2011 in National Assembly: My Ministry will, in this respect, make the necessary follow up and prudently ensure that no private land is included in the areas to be gazetted for public protection and posterity purposes. view
• 28 Jul 2011 in National Assembly: Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I appreciate the sentiments of the hon. Member of Parliament for Gwassi, but I want to state very clearly that we, as a Government, will not go to an area, particularly an area that has private land, and unilaterally propose that we want to gazette land. We only respond to the need of the people. In any case, when you consider the current Act that we passed in this House in 2005, we will only work with the local communities as far as forest issues are concerned. So, I am under the impression that the request ... view
• 28 Jul 2011 in National Assembly: Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, let me be very clear. I worked in Gwassi before the hon. Member of Parliament was born in 1967; I know this area. I want to assure the House that we, as a Government, have no wish to force people to conserve whatever is in their area. I want to believe that the hon. Member is presenting the views of his people; if that is the case, I am willing to rescind this proposed gazettement, because of the needs of Gwassi leaders and people. view
• 28 Jul 2011 in National Assembly: Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, we allow those who live near the forest to graze in our forests, and there is a small fee to be paid; a lot of people are grateful for this service. So, I know that we do it all over our forests. This is quite in order; also you can purchase the grass within our forests. view
• 28 Jul 2011 in National Assembly: Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, in view of the prevailing drought throughout the country, we can consider this. view
• 28 Jul 2011 in National Assembly: Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, this exercise is over a recent development. As I said in my reply, the matter is still being discussed between ourselves and the leaders in Gwassi. So, there is not much we had done in terms of establishing more tree plantations in this area; suffice it to say that if we protect some of these areas, natural regeneration does take place. However, I have stated very clearly that we are not going ahead with this. In fact, I would like to invite myself to the area. We can go with the hon. Member of Parliament. I ... view
• 28 Jul 2011 in National Assembly: Secondly, as far as Ruma National Park is concerned, a lot has been done in the last two to three years. We have introduced more animals in this park. There are plans to put a fence around this park, so that there are more animals in the area. These animals will attract more tourists to the area. This place is a beautiful place. It is very scenic and it is a potential tourist destination. view