Town in Uganda Declared A Dangerous Urban Area For Human Settlement Due To Untreated Water Sources

A town in Uganda has been declared by the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN–HABITAT), a dangerous urban area for human settlement due to lack of use of untreated water from polluted sources and lack of sewerage management system.

The United Nations Human Settlements agency also laments that KYOTERA Town in Rakai District lack a dumping site and a master physical plan.

Kyotera has been listed among the 30 secondary towns experiencing rapid urbanization at a rate of 3-7% per annum in East Africa according the Senior UN Habitant Consultant based in Nairobi, Jossy Matero.

“The rapid urbanization rate of towns without proper plans has turned into a menace and are the main generators of pollution loads entering Lake Victoria ” he said.

Materu said that Kyotera will benefit from the multi-billion urban planning project for Lake Victoria Region.

Addressing a stakeholder’s consultative workshop on the future of Kyotera Town at High Way Motel in Kyotera town recently, Matero said that 25 million people who depend on Lake Victoria in East Africa have turned into a threat to the lake.

He said that the massive pollution of Lake Victoria by the surrounding population has prompted the UN Habitant and the respective governments in the region to support various initiatives aimed at promoting environmental sustainability.

Matero said that 10 interventions have been established by the UN Habitant and the local governments to address the problem so as to save Lake Victoria .

They include Lake Victoria Water and Sanitation, City development strategy, sustainable urban mobility and a pilot banana drinks preservation and packing facilities in Uganda and Tanzania.

Others are, City without slums projects, Jinja Municipality Housing Program and Urban Planning, Region Urban Sector Profiles, Lake Victoria Local Economic Development and the development of Toolkits and Training Packages that have potential to be applied in the Lake Victoria Region.

Participants who included local and opinion leaders and civil servants resolved that Kyotera town must be expanded to meet the new plan designed for the development of their urban area.

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