In the Eastern part of Uganda is a District called Soroti and this is where iam. In terms of natural resources, they are proud to have a beautiful rock which to them is a symbol of identity, a tourist attraction and as well as an environment protection.However, it is different for some residents. They are very proud to be earning money from quaring at the rock.
Am holding a transparent file and inside it one can easily tell what is contained therein. A camera, mobile phone, pen, paper, my business cards and wallet. I make up my mind to go closer and see what is going on. On the right side of the rock above is where am and a tough man barks "Where are you going? I have started sensing danger and i give him a banana smile and tell him am only moving round to see the rock coz i had never seen such a beautiful rock. "The other side then. You dont go beyond this point", he shows me where to pass. I say thank you and continue accordingly.Two women are seated under a broken piece of the rock with piles of the stones they are selling to the public got from the rock. I greet them in the local language which is the only word i know. One notices that language is my problem and she speaks english. What a relief. I can now continue with issues. She takes me round and accepts to take a photo with me.
The biggest challenge is poverty. These people are quarying at the rock and it is definite some animal species that live in rocks cannot live there anymore. The fact that the dust produced as a result of crushing the stones is a health hazard cannot be ruled out. What if those quarying are burried under the rocks if an earthquake comes?How about if the people continue and the rock has to disappear completely and and can no longer perform the function of containing an earth quake like it has done at a certain time i was told by the residents? How about the families that depend on quarying at the rock including children and the elderly? It so happens that the people told me that they cannot do any other business apart from that. So, shall we degrade the environment because we depend on such resouces for business? On the side of the business men, shall we leave the natural resources yet we know we are poor and we can earn an income from them? Challenging!
The biggest challenge is poverty. These people are quarying at the rock and it is definite some animal species that live in rocks cannot live there anymore. The fact that the dust produced as a result of crushing the stones is a health hazard cannot be ruled out. What if those quarying are burried under the rocks if an earthquake comes?How about if the people continue and the rock has to disappear completely and and can no longer perform the function of containing an earth quake like it has done at a certain time i was told by the residents? How about the families that depend on quarying at the rock including children and the elderly? It so happens that the people told me that they cannot do any other business apart from that. So, shall we degrade the environment because we depend on such resouces for business? On the side of the business men, shall we leave the natural resources yet we know we are poor and we can earn an income from them? Challenging!
