Kibuule commissions water system without water flow

PIC: Minister Kibuule wondering at the tap without water during the  commissioning of the water and sanitation project in Butambala District. (Credit: Noah Jagwe)

SOCIAL SERVICES
                               
BUTAMBALA - State minister for water Ronald Kibuule was on Thursday enraged when he opened a tap at a water system he was commissioning, only to realise that there was no flowing water.

Kibule was commissioning a sh13.5b Gomba-Kyabadaza water supply and sanitation system in Butambala district.

"I will not leave this place without seeing water flowing. Why do you waste my time to come here?" Kibuule said. "I cannot leave this place without water," the minister insisted.

"Amazzi wegali, tegaliwo?" Kibuule asked in Luganda, loosely translated as "Is there water or it is not there?"

After the disappointment, Kibuule turned to the residents, who who reported that they had not seen a drop of water for three days.

Nonetheless, the minister went ahead to commission the project and promised that in addition to the water facility, the government was going to repair the damaged boreholes to scale up water supply in the urban areas.

The water system with a production capacity of 4,000 cubic metres will serve 15,196 residents of Gombe. Gombe-Kyabadaza draws its water from Buwama-Kayabwe water supply.

He informed the residents that the Government would introduce solar-powered irrigation schemes in the area to boost agriculture.

"In order for you to develop, you should grow crops that fetch money. Grow less for domestic consumption and more for commercial purposes," Kibuule said.

Butambala LC5 chairperson Mafumu Kyeswa said the area still faced a challenge of water, saying it sometimes disappears. He said areas of Ntolomwe and Kasaka did not receive water at all.

Area MP Muwanga Kivumbi requested to keep the prices of the water affordable and asked the minister to provide more water systems for irrigation.