Kazo residents embrace 'bulungi bwansi'

Nov 18, 2019

Each local council cell in the parish has designated a collection centre and a specific day every month to conduct general cleaning

Armed with gloves, hoes and spades, residents of Kazo parish in Nansana division, Wakiso district, combed all corners in the area in a general cleaning exercise on Friday.

From primary school pupils to boda boda cyclists and security officers, the residents spent hours opening up blocked trenches, picking garbage and clearing thick bushes around homesteads.

The exercise dubbed ‘bulungi bwansi' follows growing threats from hygiene-related diseases in the area, according to Ismael Kigozi, the local council chairperson of Muganzirwaza II cell.

 

"Most of the diseases that our people suffer from are a result of poor hygiene. Some people don't clear bushes around them and these are breeding places for malaria-causing mosquitoes," he said

According to Kigozi, each of the cells in Kazo parish will have a designated day in every month for community cleaning activities involving all the residents.

Kazo is one of the most densely populated suburbs in Nansana division with a population of more than 5,000 residents.

 

Jolly Nsubuga, a resident of Kazo says the community cleaning exercise was a good idea which would work better if the area had refuse trucks to collect the garbage.

"The garbage truck comes once a month and resident who cannot afford private services dump waste in trenches. We also don't have enough tools such as wheelbarrows," she explained.

According to Nsubuga, the heaps of uncollected garbage have become breeding grounds for rats, flies and other pests that are now a big menace.

 

The village community cleaning campaign received a boost in form of wheelbarrows, hoes, rakes, shovels and heavy-duty gloves wheelbarrows donated by Kazo International Volunteering Programme, a local charity organization initiated by Mac Kiyimba, an area councillor.

Under the campaign, door-to-door garbage collection services which existed in the area in the past have been re-introduced to ensure that all waste is collected and disposed of correctly.

 

Each local council cell in the parish has designated a collection centre and a specific day every month to conduct general cleaning.

Ismail Kigozi (LC1 chairperson Muganzirwaza II Zone)

Our people need sensitization about good sanitation and hygiene practices. Some of them are reluctant to clean their homesteads and we will consider applying force if they don't change.

Richard Ssembera (resident of Kazo)

Our population is rising and sanitation is one of the challenges we face. We will be moving around to teach people how to sort and dispose of rubbish in more decent ways.

Nalubega Rehema, (teacher at Emirates Junior School)

What we have found here is that people lack knowledge about good hygiene. We want pupils to learn how to keep their environment clean and live responsibly.

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