UPDF soldiers join residents in
cleaning Fort Portal Town recently. Organising routine cleaning exercises which
involve everybody has helped the town maintain a high standard of cleanliness.
Phoyo by Francis Tusiime
By FELIX BASIIME Posted
Friday, November 8 2013 at 02:00
I asked her whether she believes that Fort Portal is the cleanest town in Uganda and what factors form her position.
“It is us the residents who are clean. We create and manage our waste. Batooro are naturally clean. I don’t need authorities to tell me to manage my garbage. Every morning I clean my home and shop and take the garbage to the bin but not on the streets or trenches,” Ms Omuhereza says.
Mr Steven Mugume, a boda boda operator at Balya Road stage, agrees with her.
“One day, a cakes’ vendor ate sugarcane from the Mayor’s Gardens and attempted to leave the place unclean. We pulled him back to clean his mess. This is how we discipline people who dump rubbish in town even if they are our passengers,” Mr Mugume, said.
What Ms Omuhereza and Mr Mugume are doing is part of the culture and attitude that has made Fort Portal the cleanest town in Uganda.
The town has good drainage systems that you can hardly see water running or stagnant on the streets during rainy seasons.
“That pearl they talk about in Uganda is Kabarole because of our geographical location, good climate and fertile soils,” Ms Esther Kabarokole Abwooli, a business woman in town, said.
Historically, Kabarole District was the headquarters of Tooro Kingdom which comprised of the present-day Kasese, Bundibugyo, Ntoroko, Kamwenge, Kyenjojo, and Kyegegwa districts.
The British colonial rulers also established their fort here, led by Sir Gerald Portal hence the assumption of the name Fort Portal.
Sir Portal was a British special commissioner for Uganda and his statue still stands along Kyembambe Road.
Being named after Sir Portal is another reason why most residents feel they have to conserve Fort Portal’s beauty.
The batooro call it “tawuni y’omujungu” loosely translated as the whiteman’s town.
Authorities input
South Division that covers the biggest part of the town has a project called “beautification of the town”. Each year it spends more than Shs121m of its budget on it.
The division chairperson, Mr Herbert Mugisa Adyeri, says: “As division leadership, we have prioritised collection of garbage, street sweeping and employed more casual labourers to clean the parks, the streets, trading centres, trenches as well as pick the litter every day.”
He adds: “We have two contractors; one in charge of garbage collection and sweeping and another for open spaces and road verges.”
Each year, the urban authority seeks partnerships from companies like Regal paints to paint the pavements and zebra crossings in town.
Planting of flowers and trees is routinely done that even the newly tarmacked Bwamba Road has already been covered.
“And now we have embarked on Fort Portal-Kasese road and all roads leading out of Fort Portal Town,” Mr Mugisa said.
“We have also lobbied the National Forest Authority (NFA) to give us all species of trees that can beautify the town. They have already given us 500 royal palm trees which we have planted at the entrance of Rwenzori Diocese and Fort Portal Diocese,” Mr Mugisa says.
The urban authorities are also promoting private-public partnerships where they have involved institutions like Kabarole Hospital to maintain the green belt along Fort Portal-Kasese road.
“This arrangement has helped us to reduce the cost of labour as individuals get involved in beautifying the the town,” Mr Mugisa reasoned.
Residents’ attitude
Some leaders believe that the residents’ attitude has played a big role in making the town the cleanest in the country. Fort Portal Municipality MP Alex Ruhunda says the people have adopted a culture of cleanliness which is typical of Batooro.
He also says the mayor deserves the biggest credit for spearheading the cleaning of the town through effective garbage management and enforcement of paving the spaces on buildings connecting to the roads.
“There is no way a town can be clean without its residents being clean,” reasons Mr Mugisa, adding, “Even if you put by-laws and enforce them you waste your time if the people are themselves not clean. In fact when you find a polythene bag or an empty water bottle dumped on the streets, then know a visitor has possibly thrown it there.”
Mr Mugisa reveals that the urban authority has engaged the taxi operators to have dustbins so that passengers don’t dump their rubbish anyhow.
“We have enforced that no shop will get licenced without a dustbin,” he adds.
The church and UPDF have also joined the campaign to keep Fort Portal town clean.
“Keeping a town clean is not a one-man work, but a collective effort,” Bishop Reuben Kisembo of Rwenzori Diocese said recently after participating in a town clean up exercise.
The mayor, Mr Edison Asaba Ruyonga, says in partnership with the World Bank and Nema, the municipal authorities have established a garbage recycling plant at Kitere village.
About Fort Portal
Fort Portal Municipality lies at the foot of Mount Rwenzori, 5,050 feet above sea level. The municipality had a population of 48, 000 persons by 2012, according to the Uganda Bureau of Statistics. It is comprised of three Divisions; East, West and South covering 27.82 sq kms of which the central business district is 4sq km. It is the only place in Uganda whose main town and district have different names. The town is Fort Portal and the district is Kabarole loosely translated as “let them see”.
fbasiime@ug.nationmedia.com
