Over 2000 bamboo trees have so far been planted across the sub-counties that are more prone to landslides in a campaign that is intended to reforest the district but also prevent encroachment on the Mt Elgon forest for Bamboo shoots locally known as Maleewa.
In their meeting with the manager of Eastern Umbrella of Water and Sanitation on Monday, the water consumers complained of the inconsistent supply despite being billed highly.
According to officials from the OPM, out of the twenty families to be resettled in this phase, 11 of them are from Bududa district. The group has been living at Bumwaali Primary School.
The rangers claim that the crops were planted inside Mt. Elgon National Park. The most affected parishes include Kasuuni and Nametsi in Bukalasi and Bundesi Sub Counties respectively.
Fred Alyomo, the Community project coordinator CORE, says they have planted 15,000 trees to help conserve the soil and prevent the effects of flooding whenever river Suume and Manafwa break their banks. He says their target is to plant 60,000 trees by the end of this year.
John Mwaule, the LCI Chairperson for Nashanane village and one of the affected persons, says that the landslides have destroyed all his gardens of coffee and other crops. He blamed the government for leaving families in highly risky areas and resetting people who were in better places.
More than 120 victims have now established a camp in a piece of land which was donated by one of the residents in Luwambi cell, in Nangako Town Council after going through the same ordeal. They have built temporal shelters made of tarpaulins, with each small shelter accommodating between seven and 14 people sleeping on banana fibres and leaves as beddings.
Watira says that many people are taking advantage of the disasters to Bududa to hype their political interests. Some, Hijack items donated by the government and personalize them, he said, adding that several others claim that the items are sent to the area as a result of their lobbying.
The Luseshe County Member of Parliament, Godfrey Watenga told Uganda Radio Network that as MPs from Bugisu region, they advised government to pay the affected people money so that they can relocate but it didn’t listen to them.
More than 30 people are feared to have been buried by the landslides. Last week, Uganda National Roads Authority-UNRA deployed an excavator to help in the search for the bodies of the landslide victims believed to be trapped underground.
Nambeshe however, says the Office of the Prime Minister abandoned the plan and procured land in Bunambutye Sub County in Bulambuli district to construct houses for the resettlement of the landslide victims.
On Saturday, Uganda National Roads Authority-UNRA dispersed an excavator to help the local people in the efforts of retrieving the bodies and have now retrieved more 4 bodies putting the number at 9.
A heavy down pour caused multiple landslides in the villages of Namasa, Naposhi and shukururu in Bushika sub-county of Bududa district on Tuesday killing 4 people, injuring 5 and displacing over 6,000 others. So far, rescue teams have retrieved seven bodies while more than 30 people are still unaccounted for.
Gerald Fungo, the chairman of Bumasa Village says that a number of people are still buried in the soggy ground, and can hardly be accessed due to the shortage of personnel and equipment. The tragedy follows a heavy downpour that lasted up to five hours, on Tuesday.
The move comes after Mt Elgon region has in the recent past experienced constant floods and landslides that have led to the loss of lives and destruction of property worth millions of shillings.
The Works and Transport Ministry contracted Ms Gadi U Ltd to rehabilitate the road. The road works include the construction of Ulukusi third bridge in Bumayoka Sub County and expansion.
Sam Kamoti, a resident of Bukalasi A village in Bukalasi Sub County, said they are back from they started from. “We are back to where we started four months ago. We are left with nothing now” he said.
Micheal Wambi, a pupil of Shikholo primary school, says the long distance he treks to school has affected his performance compared to when he was at Bumarakha.
