Technocrats blame Chinese veneer processors, local tree growers blame the technocrats COVER STORY | THE INDEPENDENT | In May last year, President Yoweri Museveni banned the export of ‘unprocessed’ timber products scampering a hitherto booming wood industry. One year later, panic from Museveni’s Executive Order No.3 continues with no end in …
Read More »Investors bank on African timber for sustainable building boom
A surge in construction activity in Africa is drawing a new breed of investors eyeing mass timber – and the carbon-trapping forests needed to support it – as a sustainable building alternative to traditional concrete and steel. Wooden buildings like the engineered timber construction planned for the world’s tallest wood …
Read More »Mbarara City timber traders seek Govt compensation
Mbarara, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Timber traders whose property was destroyed by fire in Mbarara City say they lost more than one billion shillings. The fire that broke out on Friday on Major Victor Bwana Road, destroyed timber and timber products. After the incident, Robert Kanusu, the Deputy Mbarara …
Read More »Experts explain why Gen Katumba banned use of timber in constructing slabs
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The National Building Review Board-NBRB has said that using steel-timber-concrete method to construct slabs is unsafe since there are no clear standards for the timber being used. The clarification follows the 19th September 2022 ban by the Minister for Works and Transport Gen. Katumba Wamala on …
Read More »Fire wipes out Bwaise furniture workshops
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Hundreds of furniture dealers in Bwaise in Kawempe Division are counting losses following a fire outbreak early this morning. The fire that started around 4.00 am razed more than 150 timber workshops, leaving property worth hundreds of millions destroyed. Affected traders say by the …
Read More »Mbarara traders petition parliament for UGX1.5Bn financial assistance
Mbarara, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Mbarara city traders who lost their timber and furniture to fire have written to the speaker of parliament in the request of financial assistance worth 1.5 billion shillings. On 25th October 2021, fire burnt timber kiosks, motor garages destroying property that included; timber, machines, timber stores, …
Read More »Police hands over impounded timber to NFA in Lamwo
Lamwo, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Police in Lamwo have handed over 853 pieces of impounded timber to the National Forestry Authority (NFA). The Lamwo District police Commander Robert Kachumu says the consignment was part of the timber that was impounded during separate crackdowns mounted by the environmental police and officials …
Read More »Residents hold illegal loggers, impound 1000 bags of charcoal and timber
Lamwo residents impounded bags of charcoal, timber and a truck belonging to suspected illegal loggers Lamwo, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Residents of Lokung East in Lamwo town council and Lokung sub county in Lamwo district have impounded bags of charcoal, timber and a truck belonging to suspected illegal loggers. The …
Read More »Kenya faces timber shortage as demand for wood grows
With a rapid increase in demand for wood in sectors from construction to household furniture, is there anything Kenya can do to ensure a better supply? | TOM COLLINS | On both sides of the congested Ngong Road in Kenya’s capital city of Nairobi, informal carpenters known as “fundis” spend …
Read More »Forest cover on private land to disappear in five years – Report
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Uganda is likely to be left with only the forest cover in gazetted protected areas within five years, as the rest of the forests could be destroyed. According to the latest survey by the Uganda Bureau of Statistics-UBOS, supported by the World Bank, the country …
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