NEMA Credits Ruparelia Group For Following Approved Environment Protocols.
The National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) has defended the ongoing construction works at the Speke Resort Munyonyo—saying they are following approved environment protocols.
Speaking on Monday, NEMA officials said that approval given to Speke Resort required management to replant grass that was removed from the same area.
However, NEMA insisted that as a regulator, it will follow up to ensure compliance with approval particularly maintenance of L. Victoria integrity.
“As you might be aware, Uganda will host the Non Aligned Movement & G-77 Conferences next year. Venue: Munyonyo Common Wealth Resort, as such the compound is being raised to prevent flooding of the gardens,” officials said at a press conference.
“Water front developments are approved world over, to attract tourism. This is a chance for Uganda to tap into Blue Economy potential”.
“Also, please recall that the law gives Government permission to build projects (in the interest of public good) on public lands e.g.roads, railway lines, marinas etc in wetlands provided they follow conditions given by NEMA.”
The Chairman of Ruparelia Group, Dr Sudhir Ruparelia, explained that they are not degrading or refilling Lake Victoria with soil but are instead securing their own land at Speke Resort Convention Centre Munyonyo affected by the unprecedented rise in Lake Victoria water levels in 2021 and 2022.
Dr Ruparelia said they are raising the ground of the Speke Resort Convention Centre so as to prevent further flooding and preserve Lake Victoria.
“Ahead of the August-December rainy season, we are only upgrading and securing (against flooding) of our grounds that were affected by the May 2022 unprecedented rise in Lake Victoria levels,” he said during a guided media tour.
The Ruparelia Group in a joint venture with the Uganda Development Corporation (UDC) is constructing a state-of-the-art Speke Resort Convention Centre in preparation for the 19th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement to be held in January 2024 in Kampala.
“Being adjacent to Lake Victoria is one of the unique attractions of this facility. It is an asset that we guard jealously,” Dr Ruparelia added.
According to Dr Ruparelia, construction of the one-of-a-kind 4400-seater Speke Resort Convention Centre is on schedule and will be completed in time for the summit.
“Ruparelia Group, through our two subsidiaries, Speke Hotels and Meera Investments, is sparing no effort to ensure that we deliver this key strategic national facility on time,” he told the media.
In addition to the 4400-seater auditorium, the convention centre will also have a multipurpose hall, 12 high-end conference/breakaway meeting rooms and a floating restaurant that can host more than 900 guests, with an extraordinary view of Africa’s largest freshwater lake? Lake Victoria.
The Speke Resort Convention Centre is being developed on a 105-acre luxury resort complex that already has two luxury lake-side resorts; Speke Resort Munyonyo and Munyonyo Commonwealth Resort, also owned by the Group.
The three iconic properties combined, bring to Uganda’s hospitality sector about 40 indoor meeting and banqueting facilities of various sizes, with a capacity to host 19,000 people! This is in addition to several other outdoor venues. Away from meeting venues, the complex boasts 476 accommodation rooms, including 54 presidential suites and 3 ballrooms.
“All these occurrences, necessitated us to raise the grounds adjacent to the lake and secure them against any possibility of flooding. This has however been done in liaison and in compliance with all the relevant environmental and municipal regulatory authorities and laws,” said Dr Ruparelia.
It should be remembered that a year of extraordinarily heavy rains, that started in April 2019 pushed the lake’s water level up to 13.4 metres (44 feet) by May 2022, breaking the previous 1964 record, according to the Lake Victoria Basin Commission.
