Town dwellers in some of the town councils of the Greater Ankole districts have raised a fear that Cholera outbreak is anticipated due to poor waste management by authorities.
There are over 30 town councils in Greater Ankole where residents say that they are challenged with the way leadership is handling waste which welcomes visitors with a stick from all over the boundaries.
The locals claim that because the authorities lack knowledge in waste management, they end up unlawfully dumping the garbage into water sources which endangers people’s lives and cholera may be the final result.
However, most of the residents are struggling to collect and appropriately dispose garbage in their areas.
The worst is the plastic waste, which is used as packing material. The garbage often ends up in drainage channels and swamps contaminating water sources that are used by residents and livestock.
Patrick Kajumba, the LC3 chairperson Kaberebere town council in Isingiro district, says the town council is faced with a challenge of managing garbage due to a small budget.
He explains that the town council relies on local revenue collection to fund such activities.
Safari Mugyenyi, the Sanga town council LC3 chairperson in Kiruhura district, says the area gets peanuts in form of local revenue. He says they also lack garbage collecting trucks as well as a garbage dumping site.
He says they currently depend on the help of residents who are interested in using the waste for mulching or manure in their gardens. Mugyenyi faults residents for dumping waste in corridors and drainage channels.
Julius Mugabe, a resident of Ndekye Town council in Rubirizi, says that the town is filthy because of uncollected garbage. He says that once in a while the authorities hire trucks to collect waste and turn a deaf ear for several weeks.
Mugabe also notes that residents act irresponsibly because they dump garbage wherever they find.
Elly Muhwezi, the Coordinator of Uganda Citizens Alliance says despite the inadequate available resources, the town council has hired garbage collectors whose only interest is profit maximization.
Muhwezi says the authorities in the respective urban authorities are irresponsible. He wants the authorities to come up with punitive measures to ensure that residents and business community operate in a healthy environment.
The Isingiro LC5 chairperson, Jeremiah Kamurali, says the town councils must ensure that the issue of garbage collection is given priority despite the meagre resources.
Kamurali says it is negligent of the town council officials to continue lamenting about resources instead of engaging residents so that the challenge is addressed. For comments, call or text us on 0752510225.
