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OFFICIALS from forestry, National Environment Management Authority and the National Water and Environment are united in protesting the sale of part of Mabira Forest Reserve to Scoul.
The chairperson of the parliamentary committee on Natural Resources, Mr John Alimpa Kigyagi, (Mbarara Municipality), told committee members that the technical people met the Prime Minister Prof. Apolo Nsibambi on Wednesday and advised the President against degazetting Mabira.
"The Prime Minister convened a meeting with the technical people from the National Forestry Authority, Nema and from the Water and Environment Ministry who advised the President to drop the idea of degazetting part of Mabira Forest," he said.
" The prime minister supported the idea and said he would brief the President."
The committee will soon meet the Water and Environment minister, Ms Maria Mutagamba to give an official position on the sale, which would be incorporated in their report before they present it in Parliament.
The members are finalising the committee report on the budget.
Daily Monitor on August 8 wrote that the government had decided to allocate 7,100 hectares of Mabira land, (approximately 25%) to Scoul.
The National Forestry Authority (NFA) Executive Director, Mr Olav Bjella, in a July 17 letter to President Yoweri Museveni advised against degazetting Mabira.
Uganda Forestry Association (UFA) yesterday appealed to Parliament and the government not to consider the decision to allocate Mabira to Scoul.
UFA president Ambrose Kyaroki said UFA is writing a memorandum of understanding to MPs and concerned ministers to halt the decision.
"We cannot sit back and look on as these things happen, in future negative impacts will be seen. We do not support the pattern of the government considering forest reserves as land available for private investment. We appeal to Parliament that when the proposal is brought to them, they should not to support it for the good of this country," Kyaroki said.
"The government will not have to say they were never well advised.
"Let it be on record that we are advising them against taking this decision."
While addressing a press conference at UFA offices at Bugolobi, he said they (UFA) were not against sugar production but were totally against changing the land use of Mabira to a sugar cane plantation.