The Lands, Housing and Urban Development Ministry is set to implement changes in the physical planning, (amendment) Act 2020, that was signed on January 10th by the president.
Speaking to journalists in Kampala on Tuesday, Isaac Musumba, the Lands, Housing and Urban Development Minister, said they have introduced harsh penalties under new provisions that are meant to ensure that the country is kept tidy.
They include among others, regularly painting houses, clearing bushes around homes, proper garbage disposal, littering among others.
The minister noted that from today henceforth, the government has declared its an offense to liter anywhere that is not designated as a liter place.
He said people who don’t regularly paint their houses will also be liable to police detention or hefty fines, a prior notice from local authorities instructing them to paint will be issued and failure to comply will lead to further action.
Meanwhile, those found with bushy houses where the grass is almost as tall as their houses will also face arrest.
Musumba says the government plans to by all means ensure people put pavers in front of their house and this is none negotiable.
The Minister says every household must have a litter bin or else be fined up to Shs 2m.
The minister believes all this will be possible with the guiding hand of parish chiefs and chiefs in different localities who he says will be put in charge to see to it that all the above provisions are heeded too.
Ofwono Opondo, the Government spokesperson, said these measures should be taken seriously although Uganda’s physical planning problems are bigger than slashing compound and painting houses.
He noted that people continue to erect unauthorized buildings in road reserves, wetlands, and areas nit designated for residential.
Musumba agreed that there “is no capacity to enforce these physical plans and local government had failed to consider physical plans as a priority.”
“Capacity to enforce and issues of appropriate staff and capacity to process physical plans. There is also, the problem of tying permits to land registration yet the majority of the developments take place on unregistered land,” he said.
