By: Hellen Namale
KWEEN
The Government plans to relocate over 9,000 households from landslide-prone areas in the Mt. Elgon region to safer locations.
During his visit to Kween District on Tuesday, President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni announced that the Government had provided sh56b to facilitate the resettlement programme. Under this resettlement programme, each household will receive two acres of land and sh10 million to facilitate their resettlement.
The Commissioner for Disaster Preparedness and Management in the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM), Davis Mwenyi, on Tuesday engaged with families who had already relocated to the land acquired by the Government in Kween District, ahead of the official launch of the resettlement exercise.
“The 97,000 households are families that have been found to be living in high-risk areas,” Mwenyi said. “We will officially launch the resettlement programme in the coming days. We will resettle these families in phases. We have already acquired over 2,600 acres of land in Kween, but we will need around 7,300 acres to settle these families,” he emphasized.
Jane Nambafu, a member of one of the families set to be relocated, expressed optimism about the resettlement plan. “We are hopeful that this resettlement programme will be carried out well,” she said. “It feels good to receive land and support to establish a home in a new, safer location,” she added.
Lawrence Masaba, who recently lost property in the landslides, also welcomed the Government’s efforts. He added that, “We have lost many lives and a lot of property to landslides in this region. We are now looking forward to moving to a safer place and starting afresh.”
The Mt. Elgon region has experienced recurring landslides in recent years. The planned resettlement initiative forms part of the Government’s ongoing efforts to prevent further loss of life and livelihoods.
END
