By Sabir Musa

People have continued to encroach on River Enyau despite government protection. Enyau Car Washing Association was ordered to vacate the river, but this has not taken place. National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) agreed to setup an environment friendly project which till date August 2022 is still not complete. The Chairperson for this association, Francis Alionzi explains that, failure to complete construction of the site is forcing them to wash cars inside the river. “They gave us a project but it is not complete, we are willing to move out of this river. We are calling upon the stakeholders to support us and complete the project in order to keep the river safe” He said.

A resident of Ewanyapa Cell in Arua City, Manson Obichabo who has a farm of banana on the bank of River Enyau says, he only plans crops that are environment friendly to protect the river. “I only plant trees which are friendly to water bodies and don’t take much water, I also grow perennial crops” Obichabo said.

Arua City Environment Officer, Mary Dawaru says, a project will soon be launched to verify and compensate people with land titles along the protected zones. “There is a project called Eco-system based adaptation which we are going to implement within Enyau catchment area.” Dawaru revealed.    
River Enyau is one of the longest rivers in West Nile. The river flows from Arua District, crossing Arua City and Terego District to join River Nile but many of its protected parts have been encroached.