Tanneries ordered to close
25/03/2008
Uganda’s National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC) has closed off supply lines to the two leather and tannery industries ordered to shut down by National Environment Management Authority (Nema) last week over pollution (as reported on leatherbiz.com).
The local authorities on Jinja Municipal Council have moved to bring the operations of Uganda Leather and Tannery Industries (Ulati) and Skyfat to a halt after reports of deterioration in the local air quality and contamination in the waters of Lake Victoria allgedly caused by the leather producing facilities.
The chairman of NWSC’s technical committee, Yokoramu Katwiremu, led moved to seal off water supplies to the two facilities.
Addressing a joint press conference, Mr Katwiremu said: “We have been communicating with the two industries about their effluent but they have not met our standards, they have not complied.
“The National Water and Sewerage Corporation is not the one responsible for the stench in this town (Jinja). It is the tannery industries,” he said.
He explained that closing off supplies should serve as a warning to some of the industries that discharge into NWSC pipelines without treating the effluent. He warned town authorities to keep a keen eye on the closed plants to ensure that they do not discharge directly into the lake after the sewage lines have been closed.
Mr Katwiremu urged the tanneries to come up with plans to have their own effluent treatment plant.
The mayor of Jinja, Baswari Kezaala, said the town would begin examining effluent from chemical factories in the area, carryingout spot inspections.
Mr Kezaala also called off a peaceful demonstration he had organised on Good Friday saying it had been rendered unnecessary by Nema’s action.
The tannery closures have led to 250 people becoming redundant.
The financial controller of Ulati, Sanjoy Gosh, said the NEMA action had led to more than 110 job-losses at his company’s site.
“What we shall lose is production worth 60 tonnes of finished, semi-finished and wet blue leather worth $10,000 per day,” he said.
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