Govt to resettle Bududa survivors - Mbabazi

Jun 28, 2012

The Prime Minister, Amama Mbabazi, has assured residents living within the high risk areas along Mt. Elgon that the Government will strive to ensure they are moved to safer areas.

 By Daniel Edyegu

The Prime Minister, Amama Mbabazi, has assured residents living within the high risk areas along Mt. Elgon that the Government will strive to ensure they are moved to safer areas.

Speaking during an on-spot assessment of the epicenter at Bulucheke Sub County in Bududa district on Wednesday, Mbabazi explained that because the landslides were an issue of national concern, the Government will ensure all avenues to acquire land for resettlement are exhausted.

“As Government, it’s our desire to see you alive and thriving. If we don’t find vacant land for you to resettle in the countryside, Government shall resettle you in urban centers and assist you to lead a decent there,” Mbabazi said.

Mbabazi, who was flanked by disaster preparedness state minister, Musa Ecweru, Budududa LC 5 chairman John Baptist Nambeshe, MP David Wakikona (Manjiya ) and Bududa woman MP, Justine Khainza, stressed that the chain of natural disasters countrywide such as landslides, drought and floods, were increasingly becoming a major concern to Government.

Mbabazi assurance comes in the wake of growing concern over the safety of persons living on the slopes of Mt. Elgon that has developed cracks. The cracks have increased the frequency of landslides at the steep mountain slopes. On June 3, another landslide buried two people in Bumasobo parish, Bumasifwa Sub County in Sironko district.

The cracks have spread all over the districts bordering Mt. Elgon with a prominent fault, stretching more than 40km, slithering through Manafwa district. The disaster preparedness ministry has also listed districts of Bundibugyo, Kaborole, Kyenjojo, Kasese, Kisoro, Kabaale, Kanungu, Ntungamo and Rukungiri in western Uganda, as high risk areas prone to more landslides.

A total of 18 people are believed to have been buried during the Bulucheke landslide that struck on June 25 while nine sustained injuries and 448 are still living in high risk areas, according to a report from the Uganda Red Cross Society (URCS).

Mbabazi said Government has comprised a committee chaired by deputy premier, Moses Ali, to come up with a long term strategy to curtail the effect of the landslides and other natural disasters.

“But the obvious and the immediate alternative is that people living in high risk areas should quit them and relocate to safer places as we seek a long term solution,” Mbabazi said.

With no human body excavated since the recovery exercise started in Bulucheke on Monday, Mbabazi said government had already dispatched the earth moving equipment to help ease the work.

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