Pilgrims to Namugongo to receive clean water

By Betty Amamukirori

NATIONAL Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC) has set up a 250,000 litre tank to provide clean water to the pilgrims who are going to visit Namugongo during the Pope’s visit on November 28.

According to the managing director NWSC Silver Mugisha, this tank has been set up to ensure that there is no water shortage during the Pope’s visit. 

The tank will be used as an alternative water supply system to the toilets, bathrooms and also water for drinking and cleaning, in case the main tank gets drained.

“We want to make sure that during the Pope’s visit to the Martyrs Shrine, Namugongo will be having enough water,” Andrew Sekiyizzi the Kampala water general manager said.

The tank built opposite the Uganda Martyrs Secondary School Namugongo swimming pool is among several other water reservoirs that NWSC has set up around Kampala to curb water shortage, under the Kampala water stabilization project.

During a tour to ascertain the progress of the project, Mugisha together with Sekiyizzi, said that most of the regions around Kampala have been receiving less or no water at all because the water pipelines were small yet the population served was big.

“The total water demand per day in Kampala is 240m litres, yet we have only been able to supply 200m litres. The new water reservoirs will be able to provide enough water for every household in Kampala,” Mugisha said.

The most affected areas, they pointed out, are Kyanja, Buwaate, Bukoto, Najjera, Ntinda, Kiwatule, Gayaza, Kanyanya, Komambogga, Kulabiro, Kyebando, Kungu and many others.

To curb the water shortage, NWSC set up a six million litre tank at Naguru and a one million litre water reservoir at Kanyanya.

Mugisha said that the pumps have also been replaced with bigger ones and water will be pumped from the Nakasero main reservoir and distributed to the new reservoirs. He said by December this year, the water supply will be stable across Kampala.

Meanwhile, at the Namungogo shrine NWSC has also dug two lagoons where all the garbage will be dumped during the Pope’s visit to ensure proper sanitation in the area.