Village gets borehole after 30 years
Drilling process. Residents of Kirubaale Village, Nawaningi Sub-county in Iganga District, look on as the borehole is being drilled on Monday. PHOTO BY YAZID YOLISIGIRA
What you need to know:
- The Iganga District water officer, Mr Wilberforce Mbatya, said water coverage in Nawaningi Sub-county stands at 55 per cent, implying that a number of families lack access to safe water.
Residents of Kirubaale Village, Nawaningi Sub-county in Iganga District are beaming with joy after authorities drilled the first borehole in the area in 30 years, according to residents.
The village, with a population of 4,000 people, has been drawing water from ponds, streams and mainly Kirubaale well, which they routinely shared with animals.
On Monday, the drilling process of the borehole stated.
This development, district leaders reckon, will limit contracting waterborne diseases.
Ms Fatuma Namugere, 40, one of the residents, said: “Since my childhood, I have never seen a borehole in this village and we have been drawing water from Kirubaale well and Lumbuye stream.”
Ms Ruth Tapenesi, another resident, said they have often contracted waterborne diseases as a result of drinking unsafe water.
“We have been using water from contaminated sources and many people have been sick of diarrhoea, typhoid and other diseases,” she said.
The LC3 chairperson of Nawaningi Sub-county, Mr Ayub Maganda, said many villages do not have boreholes.
“We don’t have a borehole in Nakidudula, Magogo, Buyuga, Budawudi, and Nakilulwe villages,” he said.
The Iganga District water officer, Mr Wilberforce Mbatya, said water coverage in Nawaningi Sub-county stands at 55 per cent, implying that a number of families lack access to safe water.
“In the entire district, 30 villages lack a borehole and this is attributed to inadequate resources. Funds for the water department was reduced from Shs700m to Shs500m every financial year yet the demand for the provision of safe water is high,” Mr Mbatya said.
He added: “We appeal to residents to always boil water before consumption.”
The Iganga District LC5 chairperson, Mr Patrick Kayemba, faulted government for reducing funds allocated to the department of water.
“A lot of funds are retained at the central government. We need more funds to help our people,” Mr Kayemba said.
The Iganga Resident District Commissioner, Ms Eva Kwesiga, advised residents to stick to better hygiene, saying government was planning to increase funding to local governments.
