Luweero pushes for piped water as boreholes dry up
Ronald Ndawula, district chairperson
Luweero District leaders have partnered with the National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC) in a bid to extend piped water to all villages in the area.
The leaders say the existing boreholes dug in many villages, especially in the cattle corridor areas, hardly produce water because of a low water table.
Butuntumula, Luweero, Kikyusa and Kamira sub-counties will be the first beneficiaries of the project as they are the most water stressed.
“Luweero District authorities have tried to extend safe water to our areas through sinking several boreholes but the boreholes are seasonal and dry up at the onset of the dry spell. Even the valley dams dry up, which negatively impacts on people’s livelihoods,” said Mr Ibrahim Muwonge, the Butuntumula Sub-county councillor, on Wednesday
He said residents in the area trek long distances in search of water.
Under the partnership with NWSC, the district has already committed about Shs30m to have piped water extended to Lutuula, Namatogonya, Kiiya, Lukinzi and Lusanja villages in Butuntumula Sub-county.
“The district has taken a deliberate policy to stop further distribution of deep boreholes in areas where the surface bedrock has proved to be poor. It is surprising that the boreholes dry up just a few months after commissioning. We decided to use the available funds allocated for the water sector to partner with NWSC for piped water extension,” said Mr Ronald Ndawula, the district chairperson, on Wednesday.
“We may not cover all the areas that badly need clean water at once but the piped water will boost the water coverage and help more than 10,000 families,” he added.
Mr Ndawula said some community valley dams have been fenced off by landlords with a section of the residents unable to access water.
“The limited budget allocation for the safe water coverage from central government partly explains the low safe water coverage,” he said.
NWSC Luweero area manager Ronald Kisakye said they will extend piped water to areas within a distance of 20km.
