Soldiers were Sunday afternoon deployed at Pabbo sub county in Amuru district to block the district Chairman Michael Lakony and the Amuru woman member of parliament Lucy Akello from blocking a lorry laden with charcoal from leaving the area.
Mr Lakony told Acholi Times yesterday that he wanted to block the lorry carrying about one hundred bags of charcoal from leaving the district because commercial charcoal business was stopped by his office after a meeting with the charcoal traders. Lakony said the ban came into effect on 16th of June and will end of 30th of July.
Lakony said he was unimpressed with the action of the soldiers who stopped them from blocking the lorry from leaving the sub county. The lorry was reportedly ferrying the charcoal from Opiro village to an unknown destination suspect to be Kampala.
Lakony said the charcoal transporter did not have a permit from the Amuru district forest officer.
‘‘This is a war on our environment. I am surprised that the army and police are conniving with the charcoal burners who are destroying our forests and leading our community into poverty,’’ said Lakony.
The soldiers, according to a local resident who identified himself only as Abola were brought by a police vehicle to Pabbo and ordered the lorry to leave despite Lakony and Amuru saying it should not.
Lucy Akello, the Amuru woman Member of Parliament said they are fighting to save the environment adding that she was surprised to see soldiers ‘‘ scaring them away.’’
Serwanja David, charcoal dealer in Amuru however told Acholi Times that he had a permit to burn charcoal from the sub country. Permits are paid for.
An army officer at the scene who spoke on condition of anonymity said they were deployed at Pabbo on Sunday afternoon to protect property that was about to be destroyed by the locals. He did not say which property.
Lt Hassan Kato, the 4th Division army spokesman did not our repeated calls to him for comment.
1 Comment
I am tempted to believe those who say the environment was safer in the hands of Kony.