Museveni defends plans to transfer Ugandan forests to Indian group - AFP

[Eugene]

Source: Agence France-Presse

Museveni defends plans to transfer Ugandan forests to Indian group

Fri Apr 20, 4:16 PM ET

KAMPALA (AFP) - Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni Friday
defended his backing for plans to clear forests to allow an Indian
group to set up sugarcane plantations after rioting by green
activists left three dead.

"We need to balance the needs of preserving the eco-system
with the needs for social transformation - changing the society
from peasant to middle class, skilled working class society,"
Museveni said in a commentary in the state-run New Vision
newspaper.

-snip-

Museveni supports controversial plans to hand over 7,000 of the
30,000 hectares (75,000 acres) in Mabira Forest Reserve east of
the capital Kampala to the Indian-owned Mehta Group to grow
sugarcane.

-snip-

Museveni said he targeted the forest land because there was no
other land to plant sugarcane for industrial use.

-snip-

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070420/wl_africa_afp/ugandaenvironment_070420201110

[NNadir]

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