More Buikwe residents using pit-latrines

Pit-latrine coverage in Buikwe District has increased from 79 percent to 86 percent,  Daily Monitor has learnt.

Mr Henry Ssekatugga, the assistant water officer in-charge of sanitation, attributed the progress to a  five-year project, named “Market-Based Sanitation Implementation Approach.”

The project that will end next month is being implemented by Child Care and Youth Empowerment Foundation (CCAYEF).

Ms Ruth Namusisi, the CCAYEF programme coordinator, said the project was rolled out in the two sub-counties of Ngogwe and Buikwe, where latrine coverage was low.

“We began by carrying out a baseline survey in the two sub-counties and our findings were shocking,” Ms Namusisi said.

“We discovered that some households completely lacked lavatory facilities and were carrying out open defecation. Others had pit-latrines but lacked the basics that qualify them to be pit-latrines such as having a washable floor, roof, door for privacy and strong walls,” she added.

According to the baseline survey findings, a total of 704 households  in Buikwe and 3,193 in Ngogwe sub-counties were carrying out open defecation in 2018. Also 2,263 households in Buikwe and 3,558 in Ngogwe had unimproved pit-latrines

“While a total of 4,837 and 10,4667 households in  Buikwe and Ngogwe respectively, lacked handwashing facilities at their lavatories,” the programmes coordinator said.

Ms Namusisi said they also discovered that many families lacked proper or had dilapidated pit-latrine facilities because many of them thought it was not essential.

“It was unbelievable to find a family with a very descent house but a poor toilet facility with no roof, washable floor, door or even strong walls,” she said.

Ms Namusisi, however, explained that with the help of village health teams (VHT) and local leaders they embarked on sensitisation programmes under which  residents were trained and equipped with skills to improve pit-latrines  at a low cost.

“To date, a total of 1,741 temporally pit-latrines  (built with mud and wattle) have been made permanent while 2,602 temporally pit-latrines have been upgraded to the improved pit-latrines   with hand washing facilities,” she revealed.

Mr Ssekatugga said  the increase in use of  pit-latrine  facilities will  prevent the spread of diseases.

Mr Peter Lulume, a resident of Kyambogo Village in Ngogwe sub-county, said he had the money to construct a permanent pit-latrine  but never thought it was important.

“I thought a toilet should be a dirty place, so I did not see why I should build a permanent and clean one. But now I am happy I got a proper toilet,” Mr Lulume said.

PROGRESS

With a  population of 422,771  people, Buikwe District has in the last four years recorded considerable success in service delivery. For instance, safe water coverage in the area now stands at 77 percent from 58 percent in 2015. This is above the national rural safe water level of 70 percent.

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