Residents of Kibaale District are badly in need of clean and safe water after their water sources broke down several years ago.
Quite a big number of boreholes in Nyamarwa, Mugarama, Kyebando, Kabasekende and Nyamarunda sub-counties broke down leaving the residents yearning for water.
Some residents of Irondo village in Nyamarwa sub-county told our reporter that the water crisis was exacerbated by the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic in Uganda in March this year, which required them to wash their hands frequently as one of the avenues of guarding against catching the disease.
They said that trekking long distances in search of water characterised by long queues at the water sources became so worrying that they had to sacrifice their life to ensure that they at least get a drop for their health.
The water crisis called for the intervention of the area authorities to enable the residents to access clean and safe water essential for the observance of especially regular hygiene and other domestic uses.
With combined personal funding, dysfunctional boreholes are now being repaired in phases in the five sub-counties.
The benefactors include Finance, Planning and Economic Development Minister cum Buyanja County legislator, Mr Matiya Kasaija, the district woman lawmaker, Ms Noeline Basemera Kisembo and entrepreneur Dr Emily Kugonza.
Speaking to Kazi-njema News at Irondo village after completing repairing a borehole in the area, engineer Amos Tukwasibwe revealed that roughly 50 of the 81 earmarked water sources will be repaired in the first phase.
Repairs began from Mugarama, Kabasekende, Kyebando, Nyamarunda sub-counties respectively and now work is underway in Nyamarwa sub-county.
Mr Tukwasibwe said that the programme is the trio’s token of appreciation to the residents.
“We have continued with the programme of repairing dysfunctional water sources. We are in the first phase where we decided that at least we repair four water sources in each of the five sub-counties. We are optimistic that by the end of this phase, we would have been completed repairing approximately 50 water sources”.
The residents expressed gratitude to the funders since they are using their personal money to repair the water sources.
“We thank the three funders for repairing our borehole which broke down long ago. We have suffered a lot in accessing water for drinking and washing our hands during this Covid-19 period. We have suffered for long without water but now we appreciate.”
