By Karen Menczer | Executive Directive, Animal-Kind International
Additional shelter construction has been on hold for several months while the USPCA has been dealing with the Environmental & Social Impact Assessment required by Uganda's National Environmental Management Authority. But finally, the ESIA has been submitted to NEMA. And now we wait for their input: They'll visit the site, share the ESIA with other interested parties, possibly send questions and comments to us, and eventually issue a certificate that will allow the USPCA to continue construction, allowing the USPCA to house the hundredes of cats and dogs in their care, still at the old Haven.
Even though we anticipate about 6 months of review, visits, and comments/replies ahead of us, submitting the ESIA is a huge milestone! What took so long?
First, the USPCA was caught off guard. When we purchased the property, the intention was always to leave the on-site wetland intact. There's plenty of buildable land on the property and the wetland will be a nice area for visitors to relax and dogs to walk.
But then, Uganda got more serious about their wetland conservation efforts and required that even though we wouldn't be touching the wetland, because it was on the property, an ESIA would be needed.
Once we realized there was no changing minds, we had to find a reliable, experienced, and reasonably priced local and registered environmental assessment specialist. We found that in Johnson. Johnson put together his team and we put together their scope of work, and the work began.
Once we reached that stage, everything progressed smoothly. We are hoping that approval will be granted soon--sooner than we expect. I will keep you updated on the progress.
Thank you for your ongoing support, commitment to the USPCA and for your help in getting us to this point!
For information about recent rescues, adoptions and USPCA's ex-shelter manager, please see the AKI Blog post, linked below.
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