Crack on Mt. Rwenzori scares residents

By John Thawite
 
A crack has developed on the Rwenzori Mountain slopes in Kilembe Subcounty, Kasese district in an area with 300 primary school pupils and about 30 households.
 
According to Kilembe Subcounty district councilor, Emmanuel Kaghuma, the crack,   has been sighted in Buwatha, Bunyandiku parish.
 
Kaghuma told New Vision on phone on Tuesday that the rift, measuring about half a kilometer long, was above two of the Kilembe Mines underground tunnels.
 
“If a landslide occurred due to the crevice about 30 households, each with about eight family members, would be affected,” Kaghuma said.
 
He said the crack may have developed as a result of the Kilembe Mining activities in the area.
 
He said part of the affected area is above the two of the mine's tunnels.
 
He claimed that unlike other mines tunnels, the ones in Buwatha were not structures to support them from pressure from the surface.
 
The Buwatha LC I chairman, Yowasi Muhindo, said the crack was about 100 feet long and about 2 feet deep.
 
But the Kilembe Mines Safety Officer, Vincent Kaliisa, who is also acting Mines captain, said there was no crack.
 
“When we got reports from the Subcounty leaders recently, went there but saw no crack,” Kaliisa said yesterday.
 
The District Environment Officer, Augustine Kooli, said he had no information about the crack.
 
But the deputy Resident District Commissioner, Muhindo Aminadabu, confirmed that the crack was above one of the Kilembe Mines standing at 6,900 metres above sea level, commonly known as tunnel 69.
 
Muhindo advised the residents in the affected area to go and live with their friends and relatives away from the scene.
 
“If we don't move fast to relocate the residents, we could have another Bududa in Kasese,” Muhindo said yesterday.
 
The area is prone to heavy rains, especially in October.
 
He was alluding to the landslides in the eastern Uganda district of Bududa where scores of people have been buried alive and hundreds of others displaced the last couple of years.
 
By press time yesterday, the Chief Administrative Officer, was organsing teams to and go and assess the situation.