Tycoon Sudhir Ruparelia has denied the accusations that his Ruparelia the group of companies ltd is reclaiming Lake Victoria through refilling in soils so as to widen the land area on which he is with government jointly constructing a multi-billion convention Centre.
On Monday this week, a video clip of trucks carrying soil around Munyonyo Speke Resort gardens, adjacent to Lake Victoria shores went viral on social media indicating how the lake was being degraded.
The authors of the video alleged that the trucks were dumping soil into the lake, to make way for Munyonyo expansion works, something they said contravened the environmental laws.
However, addressing the media on Tuesday the same week, Sudhir clarified that they are not refilling the lake with soil but rather securing their own land affected by the rise in waters levels of Lake Victoria in 2021 and 2022.
“We have not degraded Lake Victoria in any way . The allegations are totally baseless and misguided rumours which are put across to jeopardize our project.” Sudhir told reporters.
“Being adjacent to Lake Victoria is one of the unique attractions of this facility. It is an asset that we guard jealously,” he said, adding: “Ahead of the August-December rainy season, we are only upgrading and securing (against flooding) of our grounds that were affected by the May 2022 unprecedented rise in Lake Victoria levels,”
Sudhir also said that last year’s flooding, has prompted him to plan for the raise of the grounds adjacent to the lake and secure them against any future challenges of floods, as the hotel prepares to host the Non Aligned Movement (NAM) and G-77 Conferences next year.
He further narrated that all this has been done in liaison and in compliance with all the relevant environmental and regulatory authorities and laws.
The National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) released a statement confirming that it had cleared Ruparelia to raise the grounds, to avoid flooding of the gardens ahead of next year’s conferences.
“The approval given required management to replant grass that was removed from the same area. However, NEMA will follow up to ensure compliance with approval particularly maintenance of L. Victoria integrity.” NEMA stated.
The tycoon also conducted a media tour of the 4400-seater Speke Resort Convention Centre project which he said will be completed on time for the 19th summit of the NAM Conference scheduled for January, 2024.
“Ruparelia Group, through our two subsidiaries, Speke Hotels and Meera Investments, is sparing no effort to ensure that we deliver this key strategic national facility on time,” Sudhir told the media.
In addition to the 4400-seater auditorium, the convention centre will also have a multipurpose hall, 12 high-end conference and a floating restaurant that can host more than 900 guests.
Together with Speke Resort Munyonyo and Munyonyo Commonwealth Resort, the properties bring to Uganda’s hospitality to sector about 40 indoor meeting facilities, with capacity to host 19,000 people.
As part of the larger preparations, the convention centre is undergoing some indoor and outdoor refurbishments and upgrades.
By George Bukenya