Paidha trades hygiene for economic boom

trueIn the Make Uganda Clean campaign, Vision Group  will  profi le  major  urban  centres  in the  country,  highlighting  their  sanitation situation, culminating into a gala night on November 25, where the cleanest towns will be recognised. Today, we profi le Paidha and Kamwenge town councils

BY JOHN MASABA AND BENEDICT OKETHWENGU

A TOWN bustling with activity, Paidha is a gateway to much of the trade in the West Nile region. It borders the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

According to the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS 2011), exports to the DRC from Uganda through Paidha amounted to 35.4% (about $126m) of the total informal exports. On the other hand, the DRC supplied goods worth $21.5m, which was 39.8% of total exports to Uganda that year. The main items destined to DRC were fi sh, beer, bicycle spare parts, soda and wheat fl our, while the resource rich DRC quenched Uganda’s thirst for timber and minerals. Observers owed the boom to security in the area.

IRRESPONSIBLE BEHAVIOUR

But while the town dwellers have taken advantage of the security situation to make a fortune for themselves, Paidha’s sanitation seems to have been sacrifi ced for economic growth. According to the Vision Group’s survey on hygiene and sanitation, most respondents seemed to agree that residents have ignored the responsibility of keeping the town clean. All respondents reported existence of a cleaning schedule for the town (92%), market areas and dustbins (68%). However, when asked to rate the overall cleanliness, the highest ranking was 4.9/10.

In Paidha, residents line up for the only two public toilets. When you consider thatits population is no less than 50,000 people (according to UBOS 2012, mid-year
projections), you understand why the town is sitting on a time bomb.

Additionally, there is no sewerage system, which makes waste management an extremely expensive venture.

It is no surprise that the public toilets were rated as being dirty with a 3.7/10 score.
The average cost of access was sh136.Despite this, the majority of the respondents (68%) were aware about
the existence of the public toilets, VIP pitlatrines (68%), traditional pit-latrines (64%), bush (36%), movable plastic toilets (8%) and fl ush toilets (8%).

NO SKIPS OR DUSTBINS
Although authorities employ people to clean the town on a daily basis, there are no garbage skips or buckers. Most of the respondents (70%) said they had ever seen dustbins in the town. According to some residents, they were not enough (3.8/10) and relatively dirty (4.2/10). As a result, many people litter the streets, which inevitably increases the work of the street cleaners.

It is no surprise that the majority of respondents (84%) said they had ever seen someone litter the town in the past three months. This reinforces the authorities’ sentiments on poor garbage disposal habits among residents.

INFRASTRUCTURE
Although grid electricity accounts for 96% of the energy needs and provides the main source of light. Only 28% of the respondents said although the street lights were available, they were not functional. Most respondents (60%) consider the streets not safe at night.

The majority of the roads are mainly murram (52%) or levelled ground (40%). There are very many potholes (7.7/10). Most of the buildings (92%) have old paint.

At least 72% of the respondents said they had noticed overgrown grass in the town and the maintenance levels were poor (3.7/10).

The main source of water is the protected spring (52%) and boreholes (36%). Piped water was very irregular (0.8/10).

Thirty four percent of the respondents said there was a noise control programme in the town. The majority of the respondents (60%) think the town is noisy. The noise is mainly caused by motor vehicles (80%), bodaboda riders (60%), traders (32%), prayers (28%) and taxi touts (4%).

According to the survey, 88% of the respondents had ever seen livestock or poultry loitering in the town in the past six months. The animals seen include cattle, goats, sheep and chicken.

A chat with the TOWN CLERK

The town clerk, James Bedijo, said residents think keeping the town clean is the responsibility of the
authorities.

“We are trying to impress them with the Rwanda model on
sanitation, where keeping the environment clean is everybody’s business,” he said.

According to Bedijo it would be relatively easy to manage garbage, if all residents kept their environment clean. As a result, the people who clean the town have to collect garbage from the streets and markets about six times a day.

He said they had deployed two trucks to collect garbage in the town except on weekends. According to Bedijo, it is these activities that have helped the town to keep many waterborne diseases at bay in the last 10 years.

Bedijo said the council has earmarked sh60m for the sanitation campaign. This, he said will involve installing streetlights, managing garbage and paying the cleaners’ wages. He added that they are considering establishing a garbage management committees comprising technocrats, political leaders, the business community and household heads.

Bedijo also said they would soon start collecting garbage household level. The town has a structural plan, which is being implemented.