Govt to construct 900 houses for landslide survivors

Kampala. Plans have been finalised for government to construct 900 houses in Bunambutye Sub-county in Bulambuli District to resettle landslide victims, the State Minister for Relief, Disaster Preparedness and Refugees, Mr Musa Ecweru, has said.
Mr Ecweru yesterday said the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) is working with the Ministry of Lands to make Bunambutye a model settlement area, adding that commissioning of the first set of houses is slated for February 2019.
“In consultation with local governments, those initially to benefit from the first 900 houses will include Bududa given the magnitude of the problem will take first 500 houses, Bulambuli (100), Sironko (100), Manafwa (100) and Namisidwa (100),” he said.
Mr Ecweru said the resettlement scheme is being developed on three plots where Plot 94 measuring 270 acres (250 houses), Plot 157 which is 918 acres (650 houses), while Plot 198 measuring 1,688 acres will be reserved for mechanised agricultural production.
The minister’s remarks are contained in the response to the Presidential Affairs committee report on the status of the resettlement of landslide victims in the Elgon Sub-region presented to Parliament on Wednesday.
The committee had been tasked to investigate the conflicts surrounding the land to resettle more than 150,000 households from mudslide-prone areas around Mt Elgon.

Government gets nod
The report was rejected by Parliament on Wednesday on grounds that its conclusions were not backed by facts and was bent on derailing the resettlement programme.
The programme, had among other things, recommended that the resettlement process be halted.
The land earmarked for construction of the settlements is part of the larger 2,876 acres in Bunambutye which OPM bought at Shs8b.
The MPs unanimously rejected the committee recommendations and maintained that government proceeds with the resettlement plan.
They also cleared allocation of Shs8b to fast track the project.
Mr Ecweru said to avoid high overhead construction costs, government decided to engage Uganda People’s Defence Forces Engineering Brigade, the Police Construction Unit and Prisons.