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State Minister for Disaster preparedness and Refugees, Mr Musa Ecweru gives out food items to the affected by the floods in 2011. Photo by Ruth Katusabe
Floods, Part of River Semuliki in Noroko district that bursts each year to flood on the area displacing hundreds of people and cattle. Photo by Felix Basiime
BY FELIX BASIIME
NTOROKO: Early January, 2013 State
Minister for Disaster preparedness and Refugees, Mr Musa Ecweru visited Ntoroko
district at the periphery of Lake Albert near the Uganda-DR Congo border.
He was here to deliver relief
in food items to the people affected by both floods and drought. Government and
other bodies like the Red Cross have done this for the last 3 or so years just
because among other factors river Semuliki bursts its banks every year
displacing hundreds of people and cattle, destroying property and killing some
people.
Currently there are no
scientific measures in place designed to stem off the No.1
problem of Ntoroko apart from relief supply.
“At the moment we have no
designed plans to stem off the problem, it is very costly to deal with these
floods” the district environment officer; Mr Herbert Kamuhanda says.
He explained that there is a
combination of factors that bring about the floods; uncontrolled human
activities on the Uganda side that affect the banks of river Semuliki to burst
and the glaciers on Mount Rwenzori that melt during hot days there by releasing
water to the streams that feed river Semuliki.
“Other
waters stream into the Semuliki valley, part of the Western rift valley causing
floods” he says.
This district is hit by floods
and drought every year and the only solution to the residents so far is relief
supply.
The district Chief
Administrative Officer, Mr Allan Ashaba reasons that there is interference with
the river banks by the cattle keepers on the Uganda side thereby interfering with
the ecological set up.
“There is a lot of activity
this side than on the DRC side, that at one time brought political problems
between the two countries as the boundary which is the river would change
course, we have been asking government to help us in this” Ashaba said.
Semuliki
River flows northwards from Lake Edward in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
across the Uganda border, through western Uganda in Bundibugyo and Ntoroko
districts near the Semuliki National Park. It empties into Lake Albert.
In
places, the river has demarcated the border between Uganda and the DRC; its
changing course sparked confusion in 2009 over the location of the boundary
between the two countries.
In
May 2011, about 20,000 residents in Ntoroko almost starved to death following
the floods that hit the district and left some areas cut off.
“Don’t
get surprised to hear that all fishing communities along Lake Albert have
perished due to starvation,” Mr Samuel Magoola, the councilor representing
Kanara Sub County in the district council, in 2011 told Ecweru who had come to
hand over relief items at Ntoroko landing site.
In
August 2012, two people died after River Semuliki burst its banks following
heavy rains.
Mr
Yohana Kadidi, 60, a herdsman and an unidentified five year old girl all
residents of Haibale village in Bweramule Sub County, were swept away by the
floods which submerged their houses.
The
floods also displaced over 300 cattle farmers who got stranded with their
animals and several crop gardens destroyed.
The
area LC III chairman, Mr Edison Komunjara said that the floods affected more
than 500 residents of Kabimbiri I and II villages and Haibale zone in Haibale
parish, Kayanja, Bweramule and Kyapa villages in Bweramule parish and Rukora
village in Rukora parish.
He
said the most affected are cocoa and vanilla farmers whose gardens are covered
with water. Byaruhanga said the seasonal floods have affected farmers’ income
due to the losses incurred as a result of floods and the prolonged droughts.
Climate
change
Ntoroko
is not alone in the effects of climate change due to global warming that
affects the glaciers on top of Mount Rwenzori to melt and release water.
On
the other side of the mountain, Kasese district has its share of the effects
especially in the Lake Katwe area and Kasese town where floods in 2010
threatened the lives of over 8,000 residents who engage in salt extraction
for a living. The lake flooded forcing people to seek for alternative
jobs.
President
Yoweri Museveni while in Kasese district on October 19, 2010 cautioned the
people living around Mount Rwenzori of the dangers of degrading the water
catchments which he said would cause disaster for the country.
“That
forest on Mount Rwenzori is very crucial, all these rivers in Kasese and
Kabarole are from that forest, so you should understand this and know that that
forest is our mother not only for Rwenzori region but for other parts of the
country, so tempering with the forest cover, people would perish of floods” he
warned.
Over 90 percent of the
communities living on the mountain slopes depend on firewood for fuel, leading
to extensive destruction of forests letting floods in the low lands and global
warming as the glaciers on Mount Rwenzori have been greatly affected and are disappearing
steadily.
How
the Ntoroko problem can be solved
The
flood waters can be tapped, dammed and used during drought in dry seasons, this
can eventually reduce on the floods and the related loses.
“It
is very costly but the excess water can be tapped and dammed and used during
dry season” reasons the Ntoroko district environment officer, Mr Kamuhanda.
District
chairman, Mr Timothy Kyamanywa says that tree planting can reduce on the
drought. He said, “The cattle keepers cut off most of the trees, the area is
almost bare, so tree planting can reduce on the drought but not floods”
Ntoroko
can learn from Kasese
Unlike
Ntoroko, Kasese has not sat down to watch things go on, authorities have moved
to stem the floods.
In
January 2012, Kasese municipal council directed all households in town to
harvest the rain water in a bid to reduce on the floods and use the water
during the dry season. They have also sensitized the people to extensively
plant trees in town on the mountain slopes.
The
urban authority has resolved that every land lord in Kasese town must have rain
water harvesting tanks in order to control the running water that has caused
erosion and floods.
Town
planners and engineers have been instructed not to approve any building plans
without the provision of water harvesting system and force owners of the old
buildings to do the same.
Brief facts about Ntoroko
Ntoroko
District is located west of the Rwenzori Mountains. It was carved out of
Bundibugyo District in 2010.
It is
bordered by the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west and north, Hoima
District to the northeast, Kibaale District to the east, Kabarole District to
the south and Bundibugyo District to the southwest.
The
national census in 2002 estimated the population of Ntoroko District at about
51,100.
River
Semuliki, Lake Albert and Semuliki National Park form part of its significant
natural resources.
Its major activities are
fishing, farming and business. Cattle and goat rearing is in Rwebisengo and
Nombe, crop farming in Karugutu, Butungama and Bweramule while fishing in
Kanara.
Floods
have always hit the district to the extent of cutting off some areas while in
dry seasons the area is hit by drought. According to the district chairman, the
floods have stretched the district budget and resources by increasing the cost
of containing malaria especially among the children and malaria drugs get out
of stock.
END
