Diarrhoea strikes Bukalasi camp

At least 104 people were yesterday reported admitted after contracting Diarrhoea at Bukalasi Heath Centre in Bududa District. The outbreak, described as not grave so far, is the first major indication that the suffering of the people is far from over and could indicate a beginning of post disaster challenges.

Authorities, however, ruled out the more deadly cholera, which had been reported as having broken out. The Uganda Red Cross Society, which has been central in recovery and resettlement since the March 1st landslide, said in a statement yesterday that most of the victims have been admitted to Bukalasi Health Centre.
The agency linked the Diarrhoea outbreak to lack of proper sanitation due to the large numbers of people crowding in the two camps created and contamination of water systems damaged by the landslide.

Affected places
The cases reported so far are among the people who were relocated to Bukalasi and Bulucheke camps.
Meanwhile, the government announced a major plan for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the affected areas of Bududa and Butaleja districts.
The State Minister for Disaster, Relief and Refugees, Mr Musa Ecweru, announced what he called a three-month plan for the displaced people which would run from March to May 2010.

Mr Ecweru told a news conference in Kampala that the government would also take care of the displaced victims for three months on a Shs10 billion budget.
“As we mourn the demise of over 300 dear ones, we are at the same time experiencing massive displacement by landslides and floods in all the six districts of Mt Elgon. Over 300,000 people on the Mt Elgon region and the neighbouring low lands of Butaleja, Budaka and Tororo districts have left their homesteads due to fear of landslides and floods. Many gardens have been washed away,” Mr Ecweru said.

He said another half a million face displacement in the Rwenzori and Kigezi highland areas. He said the planned government intervention is “a short-term intervention as we look for a permanent solution. We shall keep feeding them, supporting them in health facilities and education,” he said.

With the uncertainty over actual numbers of bodies recovered and actual victims possibly still buried under the rubble, Mr Ecweru put the official government figure of bodies retrieved at 83 and 300 still missing. He said efforts to recover more bodies would continue.

Debate
The new position continues a major dispute between health experts and political actors on the wisdom of continuing or ending search efforts. “It will continue until such a time when we feel all bodies have been recovered…we have made an appeal to the UN to avail a heavy duty helicopter that can airlift a motorised buckle scooper,” Mr Ecweru said.

The disaster erupted from 800 metres above Nametsi Trading Centre and the landslide buried Matuwa, Nametsi, Kubehwo, and Namangasa villages.
With about 300 people still missing and presumed dead, the locals’ wish to end the search would mean that those people would never be given a befitting burial. It would also make it difficult for the government to ever know how many people actually died.

“The locals want us to stop and declare the place a mass grave but we feel all remains should be removed,” Mr Ecweru said.