Residents from Kasozi, Maggwa and Bugayo in Makulubita sub-county, Luweero District have expressed their dissatisfaction with government over the lack of safe water for domestic use in their area.
The residents say they only have one borehole which is now used by all three villages with some residents having to walk over a mile to access it. This they say has forced them to resort to unsafe stream water which is putting their lives at risk.
According to Godfrey Ssekimpi the chairman LC 3, the stream where residents fetch water flows through over 5 villages and serves over five hundred people. He adds that it is difficult for their committee to maintain the cleanliness of this stream because of how far it flows at one point picking up various pollutants even passing through a school where many school-going Children dump various solid wastes in it.
Furthermore, Sekimpi says that many of the residents have turned the stream into a bathing area while others are using it as a toilet.
Rose Namayanja, the headmistress of Shalom Nursery and Primary school, the only school in this area says they use a lot of water to prepare student meals which and can not afford the high price of collecting their water from far away. Namayanja says they have also resorted to using the stream water something she says has put the lives of teachers and students at risk of waterborne diseases.
Katende James Agamba the owner of shalom nursery and primary school says even the stream which was their last resort is soon going away since it has been bought by sand miners who have already given them a notice.
According to residents a 20 litre jerrycan of water from the borehole now costs between 1,500 shs(one thousand five hundred shillings) and 2,000 shs (two thousand shillings.)
