Bududa landslides: About 700 families moved to camps

Bududa

About 712 families from the landslide-affected areas of Nametsi in Bududa District have been relocated to camps set up at Bulucheke Sub-county headquarters. The move comes after President Museveni said the government would establish temporary camps for the survivors of the Bududa landslides to stay in for about four months as alternative land is sought.

Worse than home?
When Daily Monitor visited Bulucheke yesterday, many families were huddled in the few tents donated by Unicef. Pit latrines were being constructed and water was in place although the residents complained about inadequate food.

One of the tents meant to house about 15 people sheltered three families. “The conditions here are pathetic,” said Mr Milton Shibale, a father of eight and a resident of Nametsi. “We are squeezed, our children are getting sick, we are eating half-cooked food which we were not eating at home. They should release us to go back and we die in landslides but we can’t stand this.”

Although another survivor, Mr Yekonia Natseli, agreed that Nametsi is dangerous a place to live in, he does not want to live in the camp. “You can not put together more than three families in one tent. The spread of contagious diseases once they break out is fast,” he said.

Saving situation
By yesterday evening, a team led by the National Director for Emergency Coordination and Operation in the Prime Minister’s Office, Maj. Gen. Julius Oketta, was battling to install large marquees and to connect an incomplete gravity water network from the neighbouring Lirima Hill.

Red Cross coordinator Kevin Nabutuwa said efforts are underway to increase the number of tents to ensure that each family has its own tent and cook its own food for sanitation and hygiene reasons. “We are aware of the need for more tents,” she said. “We are working this out and by the end of the week it will have been sorted out.”

She revealed that although many people have responded to President Museveni’s call to relocate, the onus is on the Red Cross and local leaders to convince people in high-risk areas like Bufuma, Mabono, Tunwatsi, Mulwelwe, Nametsi and Kubewo to vacate. She said there was disease outbreak especially among children.

Meanwhile, hope of finding those buried under the mud continued to fade yesterday as rescuers said it would be impossible amid the horrid smell from the carcasses and human bodies. Eight days after the mudslides buried an entire village of Nametsi and killed about 350 people; rescuers have only managed to retrieve about 91 bodies.