The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Khainza says apart from the encumbrances on the land, it is water logged.
“No person has gone there,” she said. Area leaders appear unhappy that the Office of the Prime minister which procured the land did not involve local leaders.
Land is an emotive subject in Bududa district which is generally an area of small habitable land teeming with a projected population of about 200,000 people. And Bukalasi is the most densely populated area among the mountain edge sub-counties of Bundesi, Bukulusi, and Bushiyi.
MP Nabutanyi says he visited the land and it was clear the government had a physical plan.
“People are willing to move but there is no money from government.”
Rescue effort hampered
The injured who were rushed to Bukalasa Health Centre III had to endure more pain because the centre lacks a scan. It was the same for those who were recommended for an X-ray because they had to be transferred to Bududa Hospital. Unfortunately, roads were cut off causing more disarray.
Khainza says the situation is almost helpless. “We need a helicopter, the hands of the medical workers are tied. Each village needs a water tank,” she said.
Khainza says sanitation is even direr. “We need mobile toilets otherwise cholera may emerge because we may not be able to contain the open defecation. It could turn out to be a health disaster.”
She told The Independent that 144 households had been affected, 13 people admitted at Bukalasi Health Centre III, and 2 at Bududa Hospital on the second night after the landslide struck.
She says relief from government was coming in slowly as those displaced waited for blankets, tarpaulins, saucepans and much more. The latest landslide has again put government on the spot in terms of its planning and priorities.
As a high risk area, critics have pointed out that the government should budget and appoint expert committees who should have well laid contingency plans due to the recurrence of the landslide. Martin Owor, the Commissioner for relief and disaster preparedness in OPM said it is time the ministry of finance set aside funds to cater to Bududa.
