Government unveils Shs20b disaster response plan

Government has issued a Shs20 billion emergency relief response plan that is focusing on saving lives from floods and storms hitting the country in the ongoing rainy season.

The State minister for Disaster Preparedness, Mr Musa Ecweru, yesterday outlined the plan before Parliament on request by legislators.

With rain pounding almost all corners of the country, MPs have for the past two months been raising matters of national concern citing a need for relief supplies in their constituencies where several people have been displaced from their homes.

“Whereas massive damage has been done to roads, bridges, plantations and school buildings, among others, our immediate focus now is saving lives,” Mr Ecweru told Parliament presided over by Ms Rebecca Kadaga yesterday.
The Shs20b has been released to the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) from the Contingency Fund by the ministry of Finance.

Mr Ecweru said Shs10.7b has been allocated to the Ministry of Works and Transport to carry out urgent interventions involving spot improvement on at least 1,422kms of roads, raising 34km swamp crossings, re-gravelling and installing of 868 metres of culverts across the country.

Source of funds
Initially, OPM had allocated Shs7b to the Works ministry but the money has being increased after the Ministry of Health decided to surrender its allocation of Shs3.7b.
The Health ministry was to use its allocation to procure and distribute 406,551 treated mosquito nets but Mr Ecweru revealed yesterday that supplies will be imported in the next two weeks so that they are given to all 135 districts depending on levels of malaria infections in each area.

United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) and other partners will also support the Healthy ministry with water treatment kits, supply of cholera kits and oral rehydration point kits in the communities.
A total of Shs9.055b will be spent by OPM to provide relief food and non-food items to the affected Ugandans.

Under this arrangement, OPM needs to procure and supply 2,800 metric tonnes of maize flour at Shs5.04b, spend Shs2.8b on buying and supplying 1647 metric tonnes of beans and use the balance on buying non-food commodities such as tarpaulins, blankets, jerricans and iron sheets.
Parliament was also made to understand that the Uganda National Meteorological Authority (UNMA) has also been overwhelmed by the “devastating impacts of the rains” that have persisted since August hence a need for financial support.

A total of Shs150m has been allocated to UNMA to support access and uptake of climate information to farmers, co-produce climate information by intermediaries, monitor and evaluate seasonal rainfall performance, offer feedback assessments on forecasts and interpretation of climate forecasts.

Speaker Kadaga, however, did not allow further debate on the government emergency relief response plan, arguing that MPs had already exhausted the issue.

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