Govt commissions Shs43b water project in Busia

Residents of Busia District are breathing a collective sigh of relief following the commissioning of a Shs43b Integrated Water Management Development Project, which was constructed with funding from the World Bank and Ugandan government.

The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Water and Environment, Dr Alfred Okot Okidi, said the project will enable residents to access a non-interrupted water supply at very low prices.

“A 20-litre jerrican of water will now cost Shs50 at public water outlets, down from Shs100, Dr Okot said on Friday, adding that they have already extended water to 100 villages and hope to have more (villages) on the line as they get more funding.

He, however, warned residents living around Lake Victoria against degradation of the surrounding environment as this would promote silting and pollution of the water source, whose costs of purification will be borne by the consumers.

The piped water has been pumped from Lake Victoria at Maduwa in Majanji to Busia Town, through Lumino, Buhehe, Masaba, Masafu Town Council and Dabani, and lines extended to Namungodi and Tiira Town Councils. 

Busia municipality and its surroundings have endured inadequate water supplies from underground boreholes manned by the National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC).

Statistics indicate that whereas the NWSC has been pumping up to 1.2 million litres of water per day, the daily demand for water is currently 3.5 million litres.

NWSC had resorted to water rationing, but with the commissioning of this project, 9.1 million litres of water are going to be pumped each day.

Jimmy Li, the director of Zhonghao Overseas, the company which undertook the construction works, said the water has been tested and found to be clean and safe for human use.

“We feel the people should have clean and safe water, not only for domestic use, but also for industrial use,” said Li, adding that the project was designed to serve 186,296 people but 27,800 have since been connected, while 60,300 others have been connected to sanitation services.

Busia Municipal Mayor, Sadiki Amin, said the newly commissioned project will ensure that urban residents have clean water and reduce the occurrence of cholera.

Mariam Kagoya, a resident of Buduma Village in Masafu Town Council, says they have endured having no access to safe clean water. “Each day, my schedule involved trekking long distances to access the only water source in the village which is located in a swamp.”

Buduma Village LC1 chairman, John Barasa, said many residents, especially young children, suffer from waterborne disease like diarrhoea. “Whereas the village is located within Masafu Town Council, access to safe clean water remains a big challenge.”

Hebert Egesa, a resident, said locals were paying a lot of money in private clinics to treat water borne-related illnesses.

Sarah Taabu, a resident of neighbouring Marachi Village in Busia Municipal Council, said many residents fetched water from Opade stream, a protected spring across the border in Kenya because accessing water in their area was a challenge.