The National Physical Planning Board (NPPB) has warned that illegal petrol stations and buildings will be demolished if owners do not comply with the law.
The warning was made by David Wamai, the NPPB executive director, during a tour of cities and municipalities in Masaka, Fort Portal, Mbarara, Mukono and Kira Municipality recently.
“It is so painful to find fuel stations being constructed in road reserves, wetlands and green spaces under our supervision and yet the law is clear on the requirements. Therefore, we shall not be a boardroom committee,” Wamai said.
He was in the company of a team from the key sector regulators, including the lands, local government, energy, works and water ministries.
Wamai revealed that in November last year, the board directed all district Chief Administrative Officers (CAOs), city clerks and municipal town clerks to suspend the approval of development applications for fuel stations and unapproved structures, until developers meet operational guidelines.
The decision followed the board’s interaction with district local leaders during the creation of new cities in a move to streamline physical plans, he said.
Wamai said although fuel stations are supposed to be three kilometres apart, many are built closer to each other, which contravenes the Physical Planning Act.
“We have again issued directives to CAOs, city clerks and municipal town clerks to issue a 14-days notice to all illegal developers to comply with the board’s decision, lest the fuel buildings are demolished,” he warned.
According to the Physical Planning Act 2020, the stations should be located at a minimum of 100 metres from any public institution, while the distance between two fuel stations should be 150 metres.
The area of land to be developed should be sufficient to allow the manoeuvring of vehicles and filling stations should not be allowed in any area where the traffic situation is such that it will cause obstructions in entering or leaving a station or on tight curves where visibility is not adequate.
Eng. Dancan Tabingwa, the director of Coisany Contractors, which is supervising Gaz fuel station in Lukaya, said they applied to Lukaya Town Council in 2017 to expand from the already existing single pump to four pumps.
“We were cleared and we started construction, but in 2020, COVID-19 hit us financially,” he said.
Jackie Kemigisha, a board member of NPPB, said every Ugandan has a right to a clean and healthy environment in accordance with Article 39 of the Constitution, and that if a person is aggrieved by the board’s decision, he or she may appeal to court within 30 days.
“We are now using preventive measures and looking at many aspects in the new cities countrywide.
We have to follow the set guidelines in order to develop better cities,” Kemigisha said.
However, developers accused some of the physical planning staff of aiding the illegal construction of fuel stations.
Status of city buildings
According to the National Building Review Board, over 500 buildings in Kampala have been condemned following a massive crackdown on illegal buildings in the five divisions of the city.
The crackdown followed a technical assessment report by the Kampala Capital City Authority’s physical planning directorate over the last two years that found out that there are 504 illegal buildings in the five divisions of Kampala, which were constructed without approval from the concerned authorities.
Farida Nakaija, a legal officer at the energy ministry, said they work together with all other sectors to ensure conformity in physical planning in the country.
