President Yoweri Museveni has advised the people of Bugisu sub region to stop staying in steep areas, explaining that God did not plan for people to stay in those areas, rather He wanted it to be for other purposes such as water, forests and so on but not for human settlement.
The President made the remarks Thursday while addressing a public rally at Maluku Sports Grounds, Mbale City.
The rally was part of the Presidential regional performance assessment tour on the Parish Development Model and wealth creation in Bugisu sub region.
“We told you long ago that this is very dangerous, but some politicians were playing around with it. Now you have seen how many people we have lost. This mountain is a goldmine, it is catching water for us.
It is God’s project but we who are near, we can use it in a clever way. From the lowlands where the people can live or the footsteps of the mountain not on the cliffs, we can have hotels for tourism where people come and stay in them and go up. And we can do projects like beekeeping in the forests but don’t stay there.”
Govt to offer resettlement support
He also assured the residents in disaster-prone areas that the government is ready to offer all the necessary support to resettle them in safer areas.
“I’m glad that after seeing what happened, people are now willing to move away, and we are going to provide all the money to help you get away.”
Additionally, he informed them that he is going to involve the Ministry of Housing to see how they can help the people of Bugisu to start building standard houses, having discovered that some of them still use reeds and muds to set up houses.
Two acres of land per family
During the tour, the President paid an impromptu visit to Bunambutye, a government resettlement village in the eastern district of Bulambuli, where the victims of landslides are currently settled.
He has assured landslide survivors that the government will provide them with two acres of land per family and enough money to construct better houses for themselves.
“I’m sorry to hear what happened to you. The government people came here. I did not come because I had gone to Arusha, but I know the problem. I will buy you some land—two acres per family. The 10 million shillings they’re giving you is a partial payment because we want you to get money to build a small house for yourself and then the two acres and the capital to start with,” President Museveni said.
Landslides kill 30 people
Last month, over 30 people lost their lives after devastating landslides swept through Kimono Village, Buluganya Sub-County in Bulambuli District, burying over 20 homes.
While addressing the survivors, President Museveni urged them to encourage their relatives still living in the disaster-prone mountainous areas to evacuate, assuring them that the government will find them alternative safe areas to settle.
Landslides in the mountainous areas of Bulambuli and other parts of the Bugisu subregion are a recurring natural disaster during periods of heavy rainfall, posing severe risks to the people living in these areas.
