Every Ugandan deserves better services – Rotarians to government

The number of Ugandans pushed to living in slums in and around Kampala and other cities is on the rise, necessitating government to provide services to these areas – according to Rotarians.

The Pandemic has pushed more Ugandans in abject poverty, with many unable to afford decent housing and opting for life in the slums.

According to Xavier Ssentamu, the Past Rotary District Governor, and government can nolonger neglect the cries of people believed to be illegally occupying wetlands and other low lying areas in Kampala, other cities and towns around the country.

“We think government has been slow to provide services to such communities because its policy is that these people should get out of wetlands. But the same government has connected the community to grid electricity and established a polling station in the area.

So, they appreciate and acknowledge these people exist in the community. We thus hope that government will create a better environment for these people to either move elsewhere or by providing the required services,” he said.

Ssentamu was on Saturday handing over seven EcoSan toilets to the residents of Katoogo in Ggaba, Kampala constructed by the Rotary Club of Ggaba and its partners costing $37,000 approximately shs138 million.

The EcoSan toilet is a closed system that does not need water, so is an alternative to leach pit toilets in places where water is scarce or where the water table is high and the risk of groundwater contamination is increased.

The Ecosan breaks down the pathogen in the faeces and thus minimizes the risk of introducing pathogens into water or soil. Ecosan compost improves soil fertility and thus makes communities less dependent on chemical fertilizers.

Hope Namalwa the President of the Rotary Club of Ggaba says the intervention followed a rise in the number of people pushed by the pandemic to find shelter in Katoogo slum, but lacking proper sanitation.

“We are looking at training the community to use the manure from the Ecosan toilets to commercially grow vegetables and improve their household incomes,” she revealed.

Club member Patrick Byashishaki who oversaw the project expressed optimism the intervention would help reduce solid wastes deposited into Lake Victoria.

“Fecal material is a nuisance and it is being deposited into our source of water for the whole country (Lake Victoria). So I felt very bad since I leave within the community”, he said.

Adding: “I thought if we built an Ecosan toilet where wastes will be used for manure or for any other source of energy like fuel briquettes, it would help the community and everybody else ,”

The intervention also included construction of drainage channels to direct storm water out of the community.