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Kitgum, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | A 64 Billion Shillings water project has raised hope among residents and leaders of Orom Sub County in Kitgum district.
Last year, the Ministry of Water and Environment signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Orom Sub County to connect piped water to homesteads in the area at 50,000 Shillings.
Works on the first phase of the African Development Bank (ADB) project kicked off last year in July in the villages of Katwokotwo and Lakwanya but have now extended to Kalabong, Agoromin City, and Agoromin.
Engineers from the China States Construction Engineering Cooperation Limited have already dug trenches and laid the water pipes ready for distribution to the 174 villages in the Sub County.
Quirino Olum, the Orom Sub County Chairperson, says that the project has been warmly received by the residents and over 500 households have already applied to be connected.
Olum explains that the water project is a great relief to the area following the dry spell that has been persistently been experiencing a water crisis for the past years especially during dry seasons.
Orom lies along the dry belt of the Karajamoja region and it rarely receives rainfall throughout the year.
Olum explains that for so long the Sub County has failed to drill boreholes due to the topography of the area and failure to reach the underground water points.
Margaret Atto, a resident of Morogole Village is impressed by the project noting that it will save them from the burden of water scarcity.
She explains that in her area there is only one borehole that was drilled by the Late Gulu Resident District Commissioner, Santos Okot Lapolo ten years ago and it is shared by over 500 people even from the neighbouring Palubara Village.
Atto is among the people who have already applied to have their homes connected by the pipe water.
Hellen Acen, another resident from Palubara Village says that she will be relieved of the burden of travelling over eight miles to the neighbouring Namukora Sub County in search of clean drinking water.
Orom Sub County has an estimated population of 28,000 people, it is also host to Orom-Tikao government prisons which has hundreds of inmates, prisons staff, and one of Uganda`s commercial farm that grows cotton meant to revamp the Uganda Textiles Industry.
Recently Hillary Mutabazi, the Principal Engineer at the Ministry of Water and Environment said that the first phase of the project would be completed by May this year including the installation of eleven giant water tanks and home connections.
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