MP AOL LAUNCHES THE FIGHT AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
The politician opted to begin with widows, citing the fact that they are always victims of land grabbing.
By Christopher Nyeko
GULU: The Gulu City Woman Member of Parliament, Hon. Aol Betty Ocan, has launched a fight against climate change in Gulu City.
On Monday May 15, 2023, the politician started distributing a total of 7,050 pine seedlings to over 3,000 widows in Gulu City.
Aol says her initiative is aimed at encouraging members of society to massively embrace tree planting in a bid to fight climate change.
She attributed the unreliable and unpredictable rainfall currently experienced in the region to environmental injustices, where hectares of trees in the Acholi subregion have been depleted for commercial charcoal production, lumbering, and logging.
The politician opted to begin with widows, citing the fact that they are always victims of land grabbing.
The Chairperson of Gulu City Widow Group, Ms. Okello Esther Lajul, applauded Aol, saying the majority of the widows are unable to afford tree seedlings on their own, though they need trees to plant on their land boundaries because they are always victims of land grabbing in the community.
She notes that city dwellers are still ignorant enough to assume that agro-forestry is impossible in the city, citing that there is a lot of free space in every homestead in the city where trees can be planted.
Ms. Santina Ajok, 73, says 30 trees in her homestead were uprooted during the opening of Regan Okum Road in Arriaga East Laro-pece.
The mother of four is hopeful that the 50 seedlings she has received will serve to replace the ones she has already destroyed.
Ms. Auma Beatrice, a resident of Kirombe Alokolum in Bardege-Layibi, says she is going to plant the pine on her three acres of land to guard it from encroachment.
Recently, Gulu City Mayor Alfred Okwonga also launched the distribution of coffee seedlings in Gulu City, where he procured about 10,000 coffee seedlings.
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