Monday, January 28, 2013

Uganda Tourism ministry to issue New Guidelines to Counter Emerging Issues

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KAMPALA –tours/uganda-chimp-wildlife-gorilla-trek-7-days/GANDA: This will see the 1996 Tourism Act amended to suit the current to trend as well as cater for the emerging issues.

Leopard seen in Queen Elizabeth National ParkThe Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities has compiled a new set of guidelines that if adopted, will see the 1996 Tourism Act amended to suit the current to trend as well as cater for the emerging issues.

Top on the list is oil and gas mining activities, which are not catered for in the old Act. Stake holders from the ministry, tours/uganda-chimp-wildlife-gorilla-trek-7-days/ganda Wild Life Authority and other wildlife conservation organisations, are seeking to incorporate policies to legalise oil and gas mining without endangering the natural habitats of in the protected areas.

While 80 per cent of all oil wells are in protected areas, mining in such areas is an illegal activity according to the 1996 Tourism Act.
This review, therefore, seeks to reach a legal binding agreement on the co-existence of wildlife and oil and gas mining activities while minimising harm.

The principle wildlife officer in the Ministry of Tourism, Mr Akankwasa Barirega, said there was need to update the law to resonate with the changes that have happened since the enactment of the current laws.

“Very many things have come since then. There was discovery of oil and gas which have to be exploited,” Mr Barirega said.

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