Arua gets new clean water source

Arua, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | More than 20,000 residents of Vurra Sub county in Arua district can now breathe a sigh of relief after getting clean water. The more than Shillings 1.5 billion piped water project which started in the 2018/2019 financial year was funded by the National Water and Sewerage Cooperation (NWSC).

Under the project, two motorized boreholes have been drilled at Opevu and Okufura to pump water to a reservoir tank of 100m3. Eng Kiggundu Badru, the chairperson board of directors of the National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC), says that they decided to intervene after learning about the plight of women who were facing domestic violence due to the shortage of clean water.

Luiji Candini, the Arua District Works and Technical Services Secretary has commended the intervention noting that it will go a long way in increasing the coverage of clean water in the district.

Agnes Ezaru, a resident of Adravu East village in Vurra sub-county says they have been suffering due to the shortage of clean water in this area. She says many women have been battered by their husbands because of coming late after looking for clean water.

“Several women have been beaten by their husbands just because they come late after traveling long distances in search of water”, she said.

Gloria Bako, another resident notes that they have been sharing streams with animals for a long time due to the shortage of clean water sources in the area. Alfred Okuonzi, the Arua district LC V Chairperson explains that the development is timely especially when the district has been spending huge funds on drilling boreholes, which break down after a short time.

Johnson Amayo, the Deputy Managing Director of National Water and Sewerage Cooperation, says they remain committed to ensuring Ugandans get access to clean water. He further pledged to complete the other stalled water projects in the region.

According to records at the Arua district water office, only 23,800 people have access to safe water out of a population of 54,900.

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