Activists oppose Hima quarry project
Environmental activists have again called for the delay of limestone mining at the Dura quarry in Kamwenge district.
Hima Cement, a local cement making company, is constructing a 500,000t cement plant worth $108m.
The company targets Dura limestone quarry as its major source of the raw material for the plant.
The Dura limestone reserves, in use since the 1950s, would enable the production of over 500,000t of cement annually for the next 25 years.
David Njoroge, the Hima general manager, disclosed that the new plant would save the country over $1b in cement imports when operational.
Njoroge added that the Hima limestone reserves had become insufficient.
However, the rapid economic growth has occasioned severe shortages, which have driven price up to a high of sh30,000 per 50kg bag of cement.
However, local environmentalists will not have any of this.
During a stakeholders’ meeting at Hotel Africana in Kampala over the weekend, the National Association of Professional Environmentalists (NAPE), presented a draft report which indicated that mining activities at the Dura quarry are prohibited by the law. This is because the quarry is in a national park.
Titled: “Assessment of policy, legal and institutional framework for proposed mining of limestone at Dura quarry, Queen Elizabeth National Park, Uganda,” the report was conducted by Future Dialogues International Consultants.
Published under Cement News
