Harrington urges HH to deal with Forest 27

By NATION REPORTER 

WILLIAM Harrington, the former Minister of Tourism says the issue of Forest 27 is now entirely in the hands of President Hakainde Hichilema, who yesterday took oath for his second term of office after defeating his closest rival Brian Mundubile, who as of yesterday was, together with running mate Makebi Zulu were locked up in a maximum jail in Central Province.

Speaking in an interview, Mr Harrington said he, and others had done what they could do to preserve the 1,100 hectares of a forest reserve which actually serves as a water reserve for Zambia’s capital city, Lusaka.

As early as 2019, Forest 27 was degazetted by the then administration to pave way for plots which lie as near as Bauleni Township affecting streams which passed there as well as Ibex Hill.

Mr Harrington, an environmentalist, alongside his colleague Robert Chimambo and the Busoli Royal Establishment, then, openly protested the destruction of the vital water recharge zone.

Forest 27 was set up in 1942 by the British Colonial administration as a water recharge zone and now, it has affected the Chalimbana River with people in Chongwe being affected, including fish.

Because of the housing structures that have sprung up around the area, sewerage discharge has equally affected drinking water for people around Ibex Hill, Bauleni and Chongwe.

And Green Living Movement (GLM) Executive Director and Team Leader Emmanuel Mutamba urged Government to halt further housing developments as the destruction of Forest 27 will surely affect water in Lusaka.

Mr Mutamba, a prominent environmental and agroecology advocate, said Forest 27 plays a critical role in recharging Lusaka’s underground water systems and that continued disturbance of the forest could have serious consequences for residents who depend on groundwater.

He said studies conducted by universities had already established that Lusaka was experiencing challenges with underground water, making the protection of Forest 27 particularly important.

“Forest 27 actually provides underground water recharge. So, a disturbance of that very important resource will affect our groundwater systems in Lusaka, especially those people living in areas like you have mentioned,” Mr Mutamba said.

He said the destruction of the forest was also affecting the Chongwe River, particularly communities living downstream, through poor water quality, erosion and siltation.

Mr Mutamba said environmentalists and civil society organisations had hoped that the UPND Government would honour its pledge, made while in opposition, to halt further development in Forest 27.

“When the new government came into power, if you recall, we had a lot of hope that our leaders actually made it public that they were going to halt any further development in the forest reserve number 27 because of its key role in terms of groundwater recharge in Lusaka,” he said.

However, Mr Mutamba said the Government had failed to fulfil that promise.

“To be straightforward, to be frank, our leaders in the current government did not fulfil the promise,” he said.

Mr Mutamba said the failure to halt developments had resulted in further destruction of the forest, despite its continued status as a gazetted protected forest.

“And today, as we speak, you actually cry when you see the amount of forest destruction, the loss of forest cover that has happened in Forest Reserve Number 27,” he said.

Mr Mutamba said trees continued to be cut down, describing the ongoing deforestation as illegal because the forest had not been degazetted.

“As we speak now, the forest reserve is still gazetted as protected by law. So, whatever is going on there is illegal by law,” he said.

Mr Mutamba said there had previously been changes concerning the status of the forest, but it was later regazetted following public outcry and remained legally protected.

“As we speak, there has been no process of degazetting Forest Reserve Number 27. So, it is by law a gazetted, protected forest,” he said.

He said the Government should immediately intervene to stop further destruction of the forest.

“It must be stopped. It should have been stopped. It must have been stopped,” Mr Mutamba said.

Mr Mutamba said GLM was part of a civil society consortium that had continued advocating for the protection of Forest 27 because of its importance to Lusaka’s environment and water security.

ENDS