GULU – The National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC) has upgraded two dams in Gulu Municipality in a bid to stabilize water supply in the area.
The municipality has been relying on pumping about 4,000 cubic meters of water from Oyitino dam located in Bardege Division, However, this has not been sufficient with residents facing severe water shortages during dry spells.
However, Eng Dr. Silver Mugisha, the NWSC Managing Director, said they have since constructed another dam at Oyitino, which will be now supplying 5,000 cubic meters of water every day.
He added that they have since constructed six motorized boreholes in the municipality to pump of 2,500 cubic meters of water per day.
“With the six boreholes that produce 2,500 cubic meters per day and the upgraded Oyitino dams, we are sure of producing more than 7,000 cubic liters daily to our clients in Gulu Municipality. This means that Gulu Residents will never experience any water shortages,” Dr. Mugisha said while meeting Gulu District leaders on Wednesday.
He added that with the ongoing water project that is being funded by government with support from World Bank and KfW, a German government development bank, at Shs 170 billion, the water problem in the area will be history. Under the new project, water will be pumped from River Nile, some 72km away, to a new treatment plant that is currently under construction in Gulu Municipality.
The Mayor, Mr. George Labeja, expressed concern that the poorly planned may affect the introduction of the new water system in the area.
“This town wasn’t well planned; the plans were made during the colonial era which doesn’t work at the moment. At the moment, we are planning for Gulu City which we hope to attain the status by 2019, by that time, we hope to have fixed all the utility challenges,” Mr Labeja said.
Water coverage currently stands at 78 percent in rural areas and 72 percent in urban areas, thanks to NWSC’s Service Coverage Acceleration Programme (SCAP) 100.
SCAP100 is jointly funded by Government and NWSC. From project commencement in July 2017 to March 2018, NWSC has already distributed 1,500kms of water pipes to NWSC service areas across the country.
According to the NWSC board chairman Christopher Ebal, the government, through NWSC, initiated the SCAP to improve access to safe water in over 12,000 villages in Uganda in line with the 2040 government’s vision of water for all.
