The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | In the next financial year where most agencies and ministries will see their budgets cut, the Water and Environment sector is set to move against the tide and see its budget allocations upped by at least Sh130 billion.
This is because of the fact that government expects more from donors for the sector than it received last year. The donors will send Shillings 781bn to water and environment projects in the 2020-21 financial year compared to 569bn shillings they offered in the current financial year.
This will push the sector’s allocation from just Shs 1.1trillion it received in the 2019/2020 financial year to Shs 1.4tn in 2020/21. This will increase its share of the budget from 3.3% this year to 4.5% next year.
Agriculture, Education, health and security sectors will see their budget slashed in the next financial year, with donors taking a back seat. Government is struggling to fill the gap.
The Civil Society Budget Advocacy Group (CSBAG) has said they were concerned with the cuts in the budget which are likely to affect the social services to the most vulnerable in the country.
But for water, government says it plans to spend much of the money – Shs 870.2bn – on investments to take clean water to more people, a feat many donors are still willing to fund. At least 51% Ugandans have no access to safe water.
Rural water supply and sanitation programme will receive a capital investment of Shs 139bn where government will construct 9 gravity flow schemes (GFS), retention for 3 GFS, one Highway Sanitation facility; 40 solar powered Water supply systems, drilling 285 hand pump wells.
Also, 100 production wells drilled, 70 large diameter wells drilled. For the urban dwellers, the urban water supply and sanitation programme will received the biggest chunk of the budget at Shs 621bn.
This will facilitate the construction of 30 water supply and sanitation systems, rehabilitation of the piped water supply and sanitation systems.
Water for production will get 87.3bn. Many Ugandans still depend on rain water for production, exposing them to vagaries of weather.
