Africa-Press – Uganda. Kyankwanzi District authorities have asked government to provide water purifiers to boost safe water coverage in many stressed villages. More than 500 households at Katengeto Village in Kyankwanzi Sub-county rely on water from valley dams which they share with animals.Ms Catherine Tusiime, a resident of Katengeto Village, on Monday told Daily Monitor that her family treks long distances to access water for domestic use.
“We have been sensitised about the need to drink safe and clean water, but not all families can access the water purifiers. We have families that have accessed water purifiers extended to them by Child Fund Uganda under the Community Efforts for Child Empowerment programme, but we ask the district to help extend more water purifiers to households,” Ms Tusiime said.
She made the remarks during the district celebrations to mark the World Water Day at Katengeto Village.Mr Moses Asiimwe, a member of the Village Health Teams and resident of Mpango Village, said: “We have been sensitising residents on good hygiene and sanitation conditions but the problem is the dirty water that the families consume. It is true that we have had organisations that have extended water purifiers to members of the community but we appeal for a bigger intervention from the government.”
She added: “We thank the district for giving us a borehole, but a single borehole cannot sustain the big population.”The Kyankwazi water officer, Mr Philbert Odong, said the district is largely a cattle corridor area with the average safe water coverage at 59 per cent.“The groundwater potential for a bigger percentage of the area is not good. It is also true that in particular areas, access to safe water is at 20 per cent including areas that have no single safe water source,” he said.
This financial year (2020/ 2021), Mr Odong said they accessed Shs598m to boost the safe water campaign.“We focused on particular sub-counties to have motorised boreholes among other point water sources but Kyankwanzi Sub-county is a low lying area with low ground water potential,” Mr Odong said.
