Building a highway through swamps can be a nightmare for some contractors, particularly in the era of heightened environment protection, but it has proven to be job not so difficult for a Chinese firm operating in Uganda.

The Chinese firm -- China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) -- has actually become a pacesetter in taking high environmental standards into consideration in the execution of the hard construction of a highway through a swamp -- which will be Uganda's first expressway.

The close-to-50 km road traverses several swamps, with one section of the road including a 1.5-km bridge, the longest in the country and in the east African region, according to experts.

The bridge, a highlight of the over 350-million-U.S.-dollar project, was built over a swamp which is a life line to Lake Victoria, Africa's largest and the world's second biggest fresh water body.

"We ensured that we do not cause environmental degradation and we have now achieved it," Li Jincheng, project manager of Kampala Entebbe Expressway, told Xinhua in a recent interview.

Experts have urged Uganda to implement sustainable development, warning that the country's ecosystem may be destroyed otherwise, which might lead to harsh climate change effects.

In the northern part of the country, another environmentally friendly project is being constructed by the Chinese along River Nile, the world's longest river.

The Karuma Hydro Power Plant, worth 1.4 billion dollars, will be the first hydropower station in Africa that is constructed underground, partly in efforts to minimize negative environmental impact on the river.

Besides building eco-friendly facilities, Chinese enterprises in the country have created a fund to help conserve Lake Victoria, encouraging all Chinese companies operating in Uganda to make contribution thereto.

For Chinese enterprises to continue making profits here, they need to maintain the environment today so that these resources are not depleted,Zhou Tianqi, chairman of the fund dubbed Save the Wild Fund was quoted by the Daily Monitor as saying last week.

The fund is partnering with local authorities in the region to lobby Chinese companies to join the efforts to support tree planting around the Lake. The first batch of 10,000 tree seedlings has already been dispatched.

Sustainable development and protection of the environment are both critical to the development of the country, said Zheng Zhuqiang, Chinese ambassador to Uganda, at a recent meeting on environmental protection, noting that Chinese enterprises are well cooperating with local authorities to ensure environmental protection.

Ugandan State Minister for Environment Mary Kitutu said that if Chinese set up their investments in the 23 industrial parks across the country, they would not face any problem regarding degradation of the fragile ecosystem.

The minister also urged Chinese investors to always follow the proper channels instead of using intermediaries who may fleece them resulting in the loss of their investment.