Rehabilitation of the water scheme at Sono village in Bumbo sub-county in Manafwa district has began. The water state minister, Jennifer Namuyangu, commissioned the sh7.5b project last week.
It is expected to supply piped water to Manafwa and Tororo districts. The scheme, based at the foot of Mt. Elgon National Park, will source water from River Lwakhaka that runs through the Uganda- Kenya border.
Namuyangu said the two-year project would increase safe water coverage in the rural communities so as to reduce the prevalence of water-borne diseases.
“The rural safe water coverage in the rural areas has risen to 62% from 32% in 1986. Manafwa district has just emerged from a cholera epidemic. People have been consuming raw water. It is vital that people consume safe water to save expenses that would be incurred on treatment of water-borne diseases,” she said.
Namuyangu also urged the communities residing at the slopes of the mountain to conserve the environment to sustain the supply of water to the project. “We cannot talk of sustainable water supply when we are not mindful of the environment. I appeal to the communities to plant trees at the slopes of the mountain.”
Eng. Joseph Eyatu, a water official, said over 20,000 people would benefit from the initial phase of the project, adding that the number would double when the scheme is completed.
“In areas where old pipelines are still in good condition, we shall retain them. We will only replace spoilt pipes,” he said. The project was initially constructed by the British protectorate government in 1950 to channel water to cool the train engines at Tororo railway station.
Source: Daniel Edyegu, New Vision / allAfrica.com, 27 April 2010
