Ntagali advises Government on resettlement of Bududa landslide victims

The Archbishop of the Church of Uganda His Grace Rev. Stanley Ntagali has appealed to government to ignore misleading statements from politicians but expedite the process of resettling families still staying in landslide prone areas to avoid being trapped by the landslide again.

Ntagali made the call shortly after delivering relief food and other sorted items to families that survived the recent massive landslide that claimed about sixty people in Bukalatsi sub-county in Bududa district.

 President Yoweri Museveni visits Bududa following the 2012 landslides. (FILE PHOTO)

"We are grateful for every effort to resettle and relocate the affected people to safer places through the office of the prime minister. I appeal to the same authorities to speed up the process of relocating suffering families," Ntagali said.

"Also let the government take advantage of technology that would give early warning signs of such likely disasters so as to eliminate casualties," he added.

Ntagali said government too is urged to enact and enforce bylaws that help citizens become more responsible for the safety and replenishing of mother earth.

He said renewable and eco-friendly energy use must be made affordable for all in order to facilitate such efforts towards keeping the integrity of the earth and ensure eco-justice.

Ntagali also warned leaders against making careless statements that are aimed at frustrating government programmes of relocating and resettling families that are in dangerous areas prone to landslides.

"We have heard and read in media that there are leaders that come here and discourage you from allowing to be relocated to safer areas. This is very dangerous and I appeal to you not resist being resettled in Bulambuli district," Ntagali said

"We should not continue seeing people being covered by landslides because of politics. It is not a small matter to dare to speak of such a peace that surpasses human understanding when our reality is that of daily internal and external tremors shaking our lives to the core," he added.

Ntagali also hailed development partners like Act Alliance for extending support to the suffering families in Bududa and warned the district leadership against mismanaging the relief.

Ntagali said times of adversity sometimes come to make people stronger and in such times people realise how much they need each other, adding that help from both far and near comes as evidence that God still cares and that he will make a way.

"Do not lose hope in God he will provide a way through because we know that government is not sited but it's trying its level best to see that families are resettled," Ntagali said.

However, the survivors expressed their concern saying their leaders had started turning against them, adding that recently China donated tones of relief but items vanished and they have never received them.

"Boxes of milk were among the relief items that China donated but we have never received them and if any received that one could be a relative, friend to the leaders that are in charge of distributing the relief," Moses Wangolo said.

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