Africa-Press – Uganda. Government has disbursed Shs1.2b to Bunyangabu District for the construction of the vendors’ market and construction of gravity flow scheme effective this month.
The government acquired the funding from Islamic Development Bank, through Ministry of Local Government under Local Economic Growth Support.
Shs857.9m will be spent on the construction of gravity flow scheme in Kateebwa Sub-county while Shs421.8m will be spent on the construction of Kaagera Market in Kyamukube Town Council.
Mr Isaac Opolot, the head of the project, said they intend to improve the livelihood of people in the district. He said other projects include the construction 2.1 kilometre road and a coffee processing plant.
“The project aims at improving the livelihood of people. We shall construct a market where vendors will operate and we shall also extend water to communities,” Mr Opolot said.
On Tuesday, the construction of Kagera shade market was to that effect commissioned in Bunyangabu District.
The acting district engineer, Mr Samuel Nyaruhuma, said the contractor for the market will hand it over in October with stalls, shades and toilets.
“We expect the contractor to deliver quality work depending on the bill of quantities and we want local residents to cooperate with him,” he said.
The district water engineer, Mr Nathan Mugabe, said with intervention of the project is optimistic that most villages in Kateebwa Sub-county will be served with safe water.
He said over the years, the same water gravity flow had stalled after the district failed to get Shs2.5b.
“As the district, we had stopped at Phase II, but now we have funding to complete the extension of water by December. The contractor will put public tap stands and others will make their private connection,” he said.
Kateebwa sub-county chairman Bright Muhairwa said since the creation of the sub-county, the residents have been fetching water from streams where they walk over three kilometers and water is always contaminated.
He said some of the water source points built 20 years ago are no longer functioning and residents resorted to fetch water in streams and swamps.
“We have never had clean water. People walk long distances to fetch dirty water but we are now happy that the government has finally extended safe water to our sub-county,” he said.
The district chairman, Mr James Ategeka, said the district is underfunded to extend service delivery to people but with this funding, they will get relief.
“We have many priorities such as construction of roads and markets but we lack money. I am happy that we are going to build a market that will accommodate our people, who have been operating in a poor environment. People have been decrying the lack of access to safe water but now this is history,” he said.
Records
According to water Atlas, the access to safe water in Bunyangabu District stands at 72 percent with rural access at 73 percent while urban access is at 71 percent.
The district has a total of 815 domestic water points, which serve a total of 134,672 people of 94,438 in rural areas. Also, 100 water points have been non-functional for over fibve years and are considered abandoned.
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