In a bid to improve access to clean water and sanitation, government has launched a 4.6 billion shillings water project for 9,000 families in Pabbo Sub County in Amuru district.
Under the Water and Sanitation Development Facility – North (WSDF-N), through the Ministry of Water and Environment, Government plans to develop fully functional piped water supply and sanitation facilities in 46 small towns and 73 former IDP Camps in 23 districts of northern Uganda.
The piped water facility in Pabbo will become operational in 12 months, according to a contract signed on Thursday last week.
Eng George Alito, the branch Manager for WSDF-N says once the project is complete, the distribution line will supply families who live outside Pabbo Town Board, the major site of the project.
Patongo in Agago district already has a piped water facility that supplies its residents and those living outside of the Patongo town council.
Eng Alito explained that the distribution line in Pabbo will run for 13.4KM as government works towards solving water problems in newly emerging urban centres in the region.
According to Eng Alito, to get the water connected to a family home, one has to part with 50,000 shillings.
Pabbo Sub County was selected to benefit from the over 4 billion shillings water project due to water scarcity and the growing number of residents, a factor attributed to the busy Attiak-Juba Highway which connects Uganda to South Sudan.
Currently, access to clean water in Pabbo Sub County in Amuru district stands at 62 percent.
The area LC III Chairperson, Christopher Odongkara says the project will solve the problem of persistent water crisis in the area.
Odongkara tasked the government to build a lagoon as Pabbo is earmarked to become a town council in the near future. He explained that putting up such sanitary facility will deal with the problem of human waste which has become a problem to many old towns in the country.
Eng Alito said in the second phase of the water project, there are plans to construct a sledge which will serve as a collection point for sewage.
In August 2014, with funding from the Japanese government through its development agency, Japanese International Co-operation Agency (JICA), at least seven solar powered water supply systems and 75 deep boreholes were constructed in Gulu, Amuru, Lamwo and Nwoya to ease access to safe and clean drinking water.
