Africa-Press – Uganda. Residents in several areas of Kabarole District are decrying the continued challenge of accessing safe water, which they say has exposed them to waterborne diseases.
In some of the most affected areas such as Kasenda Town Council and Kasenda Sub-county, residents have only a Crater Lake as their source, which leaders and residents say is not fit for human consumption or domestic use.
Several people claim to have suffered from health complications as a result of using the water drawn from Rwankenzi Crater Lake. Some claim they have also lost livestock due to the contaminated water.
The chairperson of the Water User Committee of Kasenda Town Council, Mr Apollo Mugarura, said the district leadership should lobby for clean water extension projects from the central government.
But the Rwankenzi ward female councillor and the secretary for gender and production in Kasenda Town Council, Ms Gorret Ainembabazi, said they have reported their complaints to district leaders and nothing positive has yielded.
“The district sent a team from the environment department to investigate the problem, but there is no solution. As residents, we have started digging our wells so that we get access to safe water,” she said.
The chairperson of Nsongya A Village, Ms Gorret Tumwebaze, said the safety of the crater water was compromised after the lake was restocked with fish last year.
“After restocking the lake, they added fish feeds and shortly I started receiving reports from the community that the water colour changed to green. People who were using it started developing stomach complications. When you use water to cook food, the food changes its colour,” she said.
While the general score of access to safe water in Kabarole stands at 78 percent, some highly-populated areas such as Kijura Town Council stand at 7 percent, Karangura Sub-county (37 percent) and Harugongo (48 percent).
Kabarole has 1,137 domestic water points, which serve a population of 266,454 in urban areas and 183,175 in rural areas.
In 2018, the district launched the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Master Plan with the aim of improving access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene for all by 2030. With eight years to the deadline, the district faces an uphill task littered with hurdles in financial constraints.
Budget for water
Authorities have this financial year earmarked Shs843.4m for the extension of safe water to different places in the district.
The district plan details indicate that Shs49.5m will be spent on the extension of water to areas of Nturo, Kyamazima, and Kanyakukuru in Rwagaju Sub-county. Shs31.5 million on the rehabilitation of the gravity flow scheme in Karangura Sub-county while Shs44 million will be for rehabilitation of other water points. A total of Shs270 million will be spent on the construction of the seven-kilometre Busaiga water supply system for communities in Harugongo Sub-county.
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