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Lack of public toilets in Makerere III Parish irks residents

One of the public toilets built by KCCA in Kalerwe and the contractor failed to complete the work. PHOTO URN

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Residents of Makerere III Parish in Kawempe Division have expressed concern over the absence of adequate basic public sanitary facilities.

Makerere III Parish is comprised of villages that include Kibe Zone, Sebina Zone, Dobbi Zone, Kigundu Zone, Good Hope Zone, and Mayinja Zone.

Haruna Ssali, the Environment and Public Health Secretary in Makerere III Parish said that there is a great need for public toilets in the area because most landlords have small plots of land that cannot accommodate houses with modern toilets.

However, Ssali acknowledged that some organizations have helped to build modern public toilets, but they are still inadequate to accommodate the growing population.

Sulaiman Busuulwa, the Chairperson of Kibe Zone in Makerere III Parish, says that there is a need for more public toilets in his area because it serves as a transit point for many people going to Kalerwe Market. He added that some people are forced to engage in open defecation.

Residents want the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) to commission a public toilet facility that was built in the Kibe Zone but has been non-functional for more than five years. They also want KCCA to sensitize the public on communal toilet use, where 3 to 5 families can share a toilet to help those who cannot afford modern toilets.

Richard Mutabaazi, the Acting Supervisor of Sanitation at KCCA, says that the construction of a public toilet in Kalerwe Kibe Zone stalled because the first contractor failed to complete the works. The authority is now procuring another contractor to ensure the toilet is completed and commissioned for public use.

He also stated that KCCA and other partners would have built several public toilets, but the authority lacks land to construct them.

According to the UBOS census report of 2014, Kawempe Division has a population of 338,665 people. With such a large population, there is still a section of the population in Kawempe Division, especially in informal settlements, that has no access to good sanitation facilities.

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