MPs want law on compulsory rain water harvesting
Aug 05, 2014
LEGISLATORS on natural resources committee have called for a law to provide for compulsory installation of water harvesting facilities on all Government health centers and schools
By Moses Walubiri
LEGISLATORS on natural resources committee have called for a law to provide for compulsory installation of water harvesting facilities on all Government health centers and schools to reduce the number of people not accessing safe and clean water in the country.
According to data at ministry of water, only 65% of rural dwellers in Uganda have access to safe and clean water – putting a huge section of population at the risk of water borne diseases like typhoid.
According to Minister of water and natural resources, Prof. Ephraim Kamuntu, 77% of Ugandans domiciling in urban areas have access to clean water despite the country being endowed with adequate rainfall.
In an interface with technocrats from ministry of water led by Kamuntu, earlier on Tuesday, MPs Ibi Ekwau, Eddie Kwizera and Hanifa Kawooya decried the tendency of people using unsafe sources of water, even after a heavy down pour.
“Ours is a country so endowed with water resources but having millions of its women and children spending hours fetching water. This is unacceptable,” Kaberemaido woman MP Ekwau said.
Kawooya noted that obligating all government institutions to have water harvesting facilities will come in handy in reducing water borne diseases, especially in schools and hospitals.
Although Government has earmarked sh10.5b in the current financial year for construction of point water sources (30 production wells and 270 bore holes) in rural areas, this, compared to resources required to realize universal access to safe and clean water, is a drop in an ocean.
Earlier, Kamuntu had acknowledged the challenges Uganda faces in terms of a possible water crisis as demands increase due to transformation occasioned by commercial agriculture and its attendant agro-processing.
“We can avoid turning our women and children into collectors of water by thinking out of the box. The time lost in fetching water has a direct negative impact on the economy,” Kamuntu said.
Related stories