Resettlement projects give hope to landslide victims

While many yearn for a town life, John Watulaso's dream was to live in Bududa district. Bududa's weather, which is cold nearly all year-round, would be ideal for his children as it had been for him while he grew up.



After all, one would not have to worry about hospital visits due to malaria because "mosquitoes do not like cold mountainous-areas, like Bududa."

In Bududa, he said, his harvests per acre of crop were bountiful, thanks to reliable rains and fertile volcanic soils. As such, making a living from agriculture would be assured. However, it was not to be for Watulaso, as disaster struck in 2010, leaving him with no option, but to flee his treasured homeland. In the wee hours of March 1, 2010, Watulaso's house was hit by a boulder as he and his family slept.

"It is only by God's grace that I am alive," Watulaso, who only managed to evacuate just in time, says. He had heard the rumbling as heavy soils, let loose by several hours of rain, came crashing from the top of the mountain onto the human settlements downhill. His wife and three children were, however, not lucky. They perished in the disaster.

Along with his family members, more than 350 people are reported to have been buried alive in villages of Nametse village in Bududa that year. Watulaso is among the many people who later accepted to be resettled by the Government in Kiryandongo district. "I did not want to tempt fate again," Watulaso, said.

Thanks to its mountainous terrain that makes it susceptible to landslides. This state of affairs, experts say, is due to an ever-increasing population in Bududa, which puts much pressure on the land and causes it to give way.

According to a research paper submitted to PLOS Currents, a US scientific journal, Bududa's population density of more than 900 persons per square kilometre is four times higher than the National average. This makes it the most densely populated region in Uganda and prone to degradation.

"At least I now have a home. I thank the Government for this house," Watulaso, who has started life afresh, said.

In addition to a house, Watulaso was allocated a three-acre piece of land to farm and feed his house.  Disaster preparedness minister Musa Ecweru said 5,000 survivors of the 2010 disaster were all transferred and resettled in Kiryandongo.

He added that the number resettled, however, increased to 10,300 people as many others voluntarily followed on their own and settled alongside those brought to Kiryandongo by the Government in 2011.

The resettlement programme is carried out by the Resettlement of Landless Persons and Disaster Victims office in the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM). Among some of the objectives of the department is resettling landless persons and victims of natural and man-made disasters in new permanent houses. 

UNENDING LANDSLIDE PROBLEM

However, in addition to the 2010 Bududa disaster, more landslides have occurred in the area, causing a human crisis. The problem has also been realised in other districts, such as Sironko, Bulambuli, Manafwa as the population in the Elgon region soars.

For example, in October 2018, 42 people were reportedly killed and more than 500 people displaced in Suume village in Bukalasi subcounty in Bududa. In August 2017, seven people were killed when a landslide hit Bufupa parish in Masaba sub-county in Sironko district, according to the Red Cross.

In June last year, another landslide occurred in Buwali Subcounty, leaving five people dead and more than 400 displaced in Bududa. During the same period more landslides occurred that year in Sironko and Bududa districts, killing eight people and displacing hundreds.

 
BULAMBULI PROJECT

By press time, Uganda was providing assistance to 7,200 victims of subsequent disasters in Bunabutye in Bulambuli district after setting up another resettlement home there. According to the OPM, these are a portion of over 100,000 people affected. Each of the victims gets a house and land from the Government.

The construction of the houses is being undertaken by the UPDF Engineering Brigade. This project started on December 15, last year. 

According to the OPM website, the Government has a target of a total of 900 houses. These will benefit not only people from Bududa, but also victims from other districts such as Manafwa, Namisindwa, Bulambuli and Sironko districts. 

GENESIS OF THE PROGRAMME

To get to grips with the extent of the problem, according to Ecweru, the government commissioned a study about landslides, most of them in the Elgon region.

Consequently, in 2011, a standing Cabinet subcommittee, headed by First Deputy Prime Minister Gen. Moses Ali, was appointed by Cabinet to establish the population at high risk of landslides in the problem districts. These include the districts of Bududa, Sironko, Manafwa and Bulambuli.

"The committee, together with technical officers after three weeks of field work, established that close to 100,000 people were at high risk of landslides and recommended their relocation to safer places, giving Bugisu sub region priority," Ecweru said.

Ecweru also said a 10-year resettlement project plan for the 100,000 people (12,500 households) at risk of landslides was drawn and approved by Cabinet. It was titled: Resettlement of landless persons and persons at risk of landslides .  

The project was supposed to be implemented in a phased manner with an average 10,000 people each year. Under the plan, the 12,500 households were each to be allocated 2.5 acres of land procured by the Government annually. The Government, therefore, planned to purchase 3,125 acres every year over a period of 10 years, totalling 31,125 acres to complete the phased resettlement plan.  

"For each financial year, the finance ministry is expected to allocate sh8b to cover both land purchase and resettlement (demarcate 800 plots of 2.5acres), build two-bedroom houses, open roads, boreholes, health centres, and schools," Ecweru said.



For example, in the 2014/15 financial year, the finance ministry released the first sh8b. In the 2015/16 financial year, the ministry released another sh8b.

"The OPM used the money to procure 2,868 acres in Bulambuli district, which will accommodate 800 households (6,400 people at risk of landslides)," Ecweru said.

However, the project has not moved according to plan because of shortage of funds to run activities of the ministry. For example, in 2014/2015, OPM was forced to divert part of the sh8b allocated for programme into managing famine in the northeastern Uganda.

"The funds were released, but shortly after, there was a massive famine in Karamoja and Teso. As such, finance ministry authorised OPM to use the same funds for relief food as it could not find other funds to avert the famine situation of that year," he said.

The minister added that there have been no releases for the programme in some financial years. In 2017, for example, Ecweru said, there was no release for the resettlement of landless persons and persons at risk of landslides project programme due to budget constraints.  

"The programme temporarily stopped," he said. "The matter, however, was brought to the attention of President Yoweri Museveni, who directed immediate reinstatement of the resettlement project. Finance ministry is making arrangements to release the funds. Once funds reach OPM, resettlement of the voluntarily registered households will begin," he added.



PROGRESS SO FAR

-Facilitated the ongoing procurement process for 1,500 acres for landslide victims in Mt Elgon region, which is in advanced stages

-Facilitated the advertisement for 1,500 acres for landslide victims in Mt Elgon region, bids were opened and procurement process still ongoing

-Designed 700 new settlements for Bulambuli

-Opened 5km key road connecting plot 94 to plot 10

-Completed the draft physical plans for plots 93, 94 and 10

-Conducted sensitisation in Mt Elgon region for this resettlement programme

-Completed the draft architectural models and bills of quantities

-A total of 2,868 acres of land have been purchased,

-A total of 13kms of access roads have been opened

-A total of 1,500 plots have been demarcated

-A total of 900 Benent/ Ndoboro landless households in Sebei region have been resettled

-A total of 1,619 benefi ciaries have been registered. Of which 913 are from Sironko, while Bulambuli has 401 benefi ciaries

-Government allocated 700 plots of land demarcated and allocated to Ugandan expellees from the neighbouring countries according to information on their website. It was in process of acquiring and developing 1,000 acres for Ugandan expellees.

-In addition, 600 new settlements have been set up and people at risk of landslide resettled.