By Jeff Lule
OVER 700 residents in Bwaise, a Kampala suburb, were left homeless following heavy rains which resulted into floods two weeks ago.
The residents, who had assembled at Bilal Mosque to collect relief items from the Uganda Red Cross (URC), disclosed that some of them live with friends and relatives.
The affected residents lived along the Nsooba-Lubigi channel, Kamalimali, Bokasa and Mayinja zones. Most of them fled after their houses and property were destroyed.
Each household was given three blankets, soap, five cups and plates and two jerrycans. The items cost about sh25m.
The URC Kampala branch manager, Julius Ssemanda, said 404 households with 750 people were left helpless.
“Over 3,000 people were affected in the area during the Easter rains, but these ones lost everything,” he said.
The division chairman, Haji Nasser Takuba, said they had started paying off residents who live along the Nsooba-Lubigi channel.
“We budgeted sh3b to pay off these residents to pave way for the construction of a new channel. We will start construction in June 2011,” Takuba said.
He said the development is under the World Bank Project code-named Kampala Institutional and Infrastructure Development Programme and supported by Kampala City Council.
The LC1 chairman of Kamalimali zone, John Musisi, said three quarters of his residents had abandoned their homes because they had nowhere to live.
He confirmed that those living near the channel were being paid off.