The Egyptian government has invested Shs95b in a project aimed at mitigating floods in Kasese District.
The five-month project of protection works for flood mitigation in the district is funded by the Egyptian government under the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation. Construction works will commence with River Nyamwamba and spread to other rivers in the district.
“The contract was awarded to Arab Contractors Company at a tune of Shs95b and it’s to be completed in five months,” Mr. Mohamed Eldesouky, the resident engineer from the Egyptian government, said in an interview last Saturday.
The works are centring on excavating and de-silting of the river channels at some identified hotspots to remove stones and other debris from the mainstream of Nyamwamba River to flush floods effectively.
According to Mr. Eldesouky, the upper stream of River Nyamwamba will be de-silted as a mitigation measure, to avoid accumulation of debris that may limit the river channel capacity during floods.
“Our mitigation interventions will be carried out in three most severely affected areas along River Nyamwamba, i.e Road Barrier Primary School, Kilembe Mines hospital, Bulembia Primary School and Katiri School,” he said.
He noted that the main problem has been the blockage of some cross sections of River Nyamwamba, which couldn’t accommodate the proper flow of the river adding that they are now digging it 10 meters deep to give the river enough space for water flow.
“We started our role almost one and half weeks ago at the site of Bulembia Primary School with about four excavators removing stones from the water mainstream channel. Thereafter, we shall turn to Kyanzuki Bridge up to Kilembe hospital,” he said.
Flooding has hit Kasese twice leading to the closure of Kilembe Mines Hospital in May 2013 and May 2014.
The destructive floods that displaced patients were triggered by a heavy downpour that caused River Nyamwamba to burst its banks.
According to Rev Sister Theopista Basemera, the Kilembe Mines Hospital senior administrator, the construction works on the river are a big relief to the hospital considering the turbulent situation the hospital went through during the previous floods.
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Credit: All Africa
