District policy hinders access to clean water

Leaders and residents in Namutumba District have decried the lack of access to clean water in town councils.

This, the leaders say, is exacerbated by the fact that the district has a policy which prohibits the construction of boreholes in town councils.

“The policy is very clear; town councils are supposed to have piped water, while boreholes are to be drilled in the villages,” Mr Abbey Kaggwa, the Namutumba water officer, said in an interview at the weekend.

Five out of the six town councils in Namutumba District lack piped water. These include Bugobi, Nsinze, Kibale, Ivukula, and Nangonde.

Mr Kaggwa said Kibale is the only town council with piped water, which was donated by the Water Umbrella as a pilot project in two of its five wards, which he said is not enough.

“Much as we may have capacity as a district, we are not allowed to drill boreholes in town councils; I am requesting people to remain calm as we wait for the Ministry of Water,” he said.

The Namutumba District chairperson, Mr David Mukisa, said due to the policy, the district council stopped passing budgets to drill boreholes in town councils.

The Bugobi Town Council chairperson, Mr Sam Katoke, said the lack of piped water in his area is affecting development because people are spending a lot of money treating diseases as a result of consuming contaminated water.

“It is true the policy does not allow drilling of boreholes in town councils, but my humble request goes to the government, through the National Water and Sewerage Corporation, to consider Namutumba town councils,” he said.

His Ivukula Town Council counterpart, Mr Noah Nduga, said diarrhea has become rampant, especially among children.

He said almost 80 percent of his residents draw water from wells and swamps, a figure he says they want to reduce to five percent.

However, the residents said they have had piped water for five years and rely on surface sources like wells and swamps for drinking water. This has led to the spread of diseases such as diarrhea, cholera, typhoid, and dysentery.

Mr Julius Bakonte, a resident of Bugabula Ward in Ivukula Town Council, said if the government, through the National Water and Sewerage Corporation, has failed to extend piped water to town councils, the district should drill boreholes so that residents can access safe and clean water.

Ms Juliet Nangobi, a resident of Nsinze Town Council, said the lack of piped water has also affected health facilities like Nsinze Health Centre IV, and Kibale, Nangonde and Ivukula health centre IIIs.

“Maternity wards are supposed to have running water but that is not the case. Water which is harvested and kept in tanks during the rainy season is not enough and often gets finished within two days,” Ms Nangobi said.

She said at Ivukula and Kibale health centre IIIs, midwives ask expectant mothers or caretakers to carry a jerry can of water to be used in the maternity ward.

Ms Hellen Mutonyi, a midwife at Bugobi Health Centre II in Bugobi Town Council, confirmed, saying it is “risky” and “unethical”.

[email protected]