Over 1,000 Kaliro residents benefit from World Bank-funded safe water project
“This is a big project, which has cost over sh11b, we are grateful to the Government for this initiative,” Matende stated after conducting an inspection tour of various villages where the vast water infrastructure is already in operation.
The project has a transmission and distribution capacity of over 5.6Km of clear water transmission using 160mm uPVC pipes and over 25 kms of primary distribution mains. (Photos by Rhyman Agaba)
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Over 1,000 residents in three water-starved parishes of Kaliro district have benefited from a sh11b World Bank-funded water project.
While addressing residents at Bukamba Primary School in Bukamba Parish, Kaliro District on Wednesday afternoon, Kaliro Resident District Commissioner (RDC) Thomas Matende commended the Government of Uganda and local leaders as well as the contractor for ensuring completion of the project.
“This is a big project, which has cost over sh11b, we are grateful to the Government for this initiative,” Matende stated after conducting an inspection tour of various villages where the vast water infrastructure is already in operation.
Matende represented the Government during the handover of the project during a function organised by the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Department of the Ministry of Water and Environment. The event saw the contractor, Royal Techno Industries Limited, hand over the project to the regional water management entity in charge of eastern Uganda.
Currently, the project is serving over 350 households (over 1,000 residents), but will have over 2,300 households connected to the system.
David Bateganya, the principal engineer in the water ministry, said the project will serve residents in the sub-county of Bukamba and the surrounding areas with safe piped water for both domestic and commercial use.
“This project gets water from the nearby Lake Kyoga, and we transmit it almost 5 kilometres from this treatment plant to the various locations it serves,” Batenganya said.
The project has a transmission and distribution capacity of over 5.6Km of clear water transmission using 160mm uPVC pipes and over 25 kms of primary distribution mains.
It also has a storage capacity of 346 cubic meters (350,000 litres) of hot-pressed galvanised section steel panel tank on a 10-metre high steel reservoir tank in Kaliro's Buvulunguti East village, Bukamba sub-county. The project also features water office blocks at Bukamba sub-county offices.
Bateganya told New Vision that the area faced a critical water challenge because existing boreholes produce hard, poor-quality water unsuitable for domestic use.
According to the water ministry, the rapid population growth, water shortages and other factors like long distances to water sources became an urgent crisis for communities.
"The project area spans various villages and serves upto three parishes.
“It is the result of teamwork. I thank the RDC (Matende) and ministry of water for their supervision and dedication,” Kumar said.
He commended Eng. Bateganya and the team for ensuring that the project was executed without anyone getting harmed.
The two-year project construction commenced on January 21, 2024, and was completed on January 20, 2026.
Harriet Mbeiza, a resident of Bukamba and mother of one, lauded the Government and President Yoweri Museveni for the project, which she and many other residents said is the biggest in the district.
“We have been moving long distances to fetch water and each 20-litre jerrycan has been costing sh300, but now this clean piped water costs only sh100 per 20-litre jerrycan,” an excited Mbeiza said.
Moses Tubitemweno, the vice chairperson of Bukamba sub-county, welcomed the project, saying it will in future serve at least 30,000 residents.
While receiving the project, Samuel Oyo, the regional manager for the water and environment ministry Eastern Umbrella, said they will charge a small fee to enable them to maintain the system over the next 20 years.
“We shall start with 380 connections, but we shall increase these to 2,000 connections in the near future,” he told the residents.