450 Mbale City flood victims get relief items

Homeless families in the suburbs of Mbale City, who were displaced by floods, have received iron sheets and other relief items after a month of waiting.

Their homes were swept away after  rivers Nabuyonga and Namatala burst their banks following a downpour last month.

The floods left 29 people dead and about 1,500 others displaced in Mbale City and Mbale District after several rivers burst their banks.

Ms Fatuma Wamono, one of the beneficiaries, said they had remained homeless since the floods washed away their house due to lack of money to buy iron sheets.

“We are going to use the iron sheets to construct a new house so that we start life afresh,” she told Monitor on Monday.

Other relief items donated by African Women and Youth Action for Development (AWYAD), together with Help Age International and Start Network, both non-governmental organisations, included mattresses, blankets, jerrycans, basins, water purifiers, rain jackets, among others.

Mr Martin Aluwa, another beneficiary, decried the delayed government response to their plight despite their current miserable situation.

“We cannot help ourselves. We need government help but that help has failed to come in upto date,” he said.

Mr Yusus Bilal, the chairperson of Doko Village in Doko Ward, Industrial Division, Mbale City, urged government to relocate people from the areas which were affected by floods.

“Government should also come and plan for our people in these areas because if it floods again, we are likely to lose more people,” he said.

Mr Charles Nyeko, a councillor representing Doko Ward, applauded the organisations for the help but said they need more.

“We are happy they have got iron sheets but they don’t have money to start the construction of new houses,” he said.

He also warned the beneficiaries against building in the same places where their houses were washed away by the floods.

Mr Steven Bwayo Wamono, the AWYAD executive director, said they were able to offer support to 450 households affected by floods such that they can start a new life.

He also cautioned city leaders against issuing permits, land titles and house plans to be constructed in water ways.

“This is because when a river floods, it will take its course and along the way, many people will be affected,” he said.

The Mbale Resident City Commissioner, Mr Ahamada Washaki, urged the residents to protect the environment.

“We should stop dangerous human activities such as building on river banks and bad farming activities,” he said. 

Time bomb 

Authorities in Mbale say many houses in Doko, Nabitiri, Namakwekwe, Namatala, Mutoto, Mooni, South Central, Islamic University in Uganda, Nambijjo and Booma are built on road reserves, sewerage lines, street alleys and wetlands.