Over the weekend, Uganda Airlines partnered with the Kigungu community in Entebbe for a clean-up exercise aimed at mitigating bird strikes at Entebbe International Airport through improved waste management and environmental conservation.
Alongside local residents, the initiative focused on the collection and proper disposal of waste – particularly plastics and fish processing byproducts. These waste materials attract birds, increasing the risk of them straying into aircraft flight paths and posing significant safety hazards.
According to Uganda Airlines’ head of corporate affairs and public relations, Shakilah Rahim Lamar, the airline launched the Flight Path Sustainability Project in November 2022.
The initiative aims to reduce bird concentrations around the airport by 40% while promoting community-led waste management solutions. Bird strikes cause costly disruptions in aviation, including grounded aircraft and flight cancellations.
Lamar emphasized that, with Entebbe being both a bird sanctuary and home to a fishing community and industries that frequently dump waste along the shores, deliberate efforts are needed to minimize these dangers. She highlighted the importance of reuse, repurposing, and recycling as key strategies to address the issue.
One believes that such rubbish collection is the responsibility of the Uganda Civil Aviation and that Town council of Entebbe where the expensive President of Uganda resides. Those are bygone days when the British Governor used to reside in that place. The Entebbe peninsula was one of the cleanest town districts in the Kingdom state of Buganda. Nature with a vibrant bird sanctuary were well looked after in one of the most beautiful botanical gardens in East Africa. That botanical garden is gone with the times no wonder birds are flying all over the place alongside the massive Lake Nalubaale!