Farmers in areas neighboring the lagoon in Pece have asked for a year to stop farming activities around the waste treatment plants.
The farmers had been given two weeks by the National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC) and the Gulu Resident District Commission, Capt Okot Santo Lapolo, to vacate the area.
But the farmers say they need more time to vacate.
Maize, tomatoes, beans, bananas, cabbage, sweet potatoes and different types of vegetables are some of the crops planted around the lagoon, some as few as 13 metres away from the foul- smelling sewage treatment plants.
Because of the moist souls, farmers grow crops near the sewage plants throughout the year. The vegetables from the sewer plants find their way in markets in Gulu, other parts of northern Uganda and even South Sudan.
Paul Rackara, the Gulu Branch Manager for UNWSC told the press that crops grown around the treatment plants is not good for human consumption. Rackara says the biochemical treatment plant contains harmful elements.
According to Rackara people farming around the treatment plants and eating crops from there are at increased risk of suffering from typhoid, bilharzia, cholera and other diseases.
Despite the risks, the farmers say they need more time to leave. Margaret Komakech told Acholi Times she has been farming around the treatment plant for years. She pleaded with the local authorities to give them a year to vacate their gardens.
But Gulu RDC Lapolo insists the farmers have to leave the areas around the sewer plants.
