KABAROLE – Kabarole district local government has set aside Shs 843.4mln for the extension of clean water to local communities in the district.
According to the district status report, access to safe water in Kabarole district is at 78 percent but some communities’ access to safe water stands at 7 percent in Kijura town council, 37 percent in Karangura Sub-county, and 48 percent in Harugongo Sub-county. The areas are densely populated.
The extension of safe water to these communities comes after residents raised concern about how they have resorted to fetching water from unprotected water sources.
The district water officer, Bruno Basudde said much of the money would be spent on development while the remainder will be spent on rehabilitation and service investment.
“The boreholes in these sub-counties mentioned above were drilled more than five years ago and they have since broken down forcing locals to walk long distances in search of water,” Basudde said.
He said most of the areas have no safe water because of being hilly and they find it hard to have one water system serving more than two zones therefore they need to use more technology to ensure they serve people with safe water.
Basudde said in Rwengaju Sub-county, they will spend Shs 49.5mln on the extension of water to areas of Nturo, Kyamazima, and Kanyakukuru.
A further Shs 270mln has been secured to construct a seven-kilometre Busaiga water supply system to serve communities in Harugongo Sub-county and Shs 44mln will be spent on the construction of a two-kilometre water system from Kinyaibumba to Munihya communities.
The district is also set to spend Shs 31.5mln on rehabilitation of gravity flow scheme in Karangura Sub-county and the remaining Shs 44mln will be for rehabilitation of other water points.
Facts
According to data from the Ministry of Water and Environment, 27 percent of people fetch water from protected springs, 58 percent from shallow wells, 4 percent from boreholes, and 12 percent from public taps.
Kabarole district has a total of 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 [WASH] Master Plan with the aim of improving access to safe water, sanitation, and hygiene for all by 2030.
However, with eight years to reach 2030, the district authorities are still struggling to improve sanitation and access to safe water, especially in rural areas.
Martin Watsisi, the regional WASH officer for International Water and Sanitation Centre [IRC], said to achieve 100 percent access to safe water and sanitation, Kabarole will be required to make an investment of US$ 24.1mln [Shs 91.76bln] for water and US$ 48.1mln [Shs183bln] for sanitation over the years leading to 2030.
Watsisi said central government has supported the district to extend water to communities by 10 percent, local government 38 percent and NGOs by 45 percent.
The Kabarole district LCV chairperson, Richard Rwabuhinga said as a district, they are trying their best to ensure communities get access to safe water.
He however noted that they are constrained by limited funds to help them do the required work.
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