Kazo and Ibanda districts water project nears completion.
Officials from the Ministry of Water and Environment ministry have assured the general public that water from the Nyabuhikye-Kikyenkye gravity water project will reach their homes in Ibanda and Kazo districts in March this year.
Speaking during the project tour by media personnel on Thursday, Engineer Moses Ebalu, the clerk of works at the UGX 20b project, said the works are scheduled to be completed by February 28 and the project handed over to the government.
Ebalu noted that about 1,000 residents of Keihangara and Kikyenkye sub-counties will, however, be the first beneficiaries of this water project.
The Nyabuhikye-Kikyenkye Water Supply and Sanitation System, a gravity flow water scheme located in Igorora town council Ibanda South, is funded by the African Development Bank and the government of Uganda.
The first phase of the project is targeting to serve 41,000 people in the two districts of Ibanda and Kazo.
The multibillion water project which started in 2017, was slated to take 18 months, ending in late 2018 is being undertaken by Mbarara-based Block Technical Services.
Duncan Kangwangye, the Block Technical Services supervisor at the project, said despite the numerous challenges, the change of project managers by the ministry and facilitating payments to the contractor, enabled them to do the work as per schedule.
Eng Ebalu attributed the project’s delay to challenges like government’s delay to compensate the landowners along the route of the raw water pipe, Covid-19 pandemic and low cash flow in government among others.
Eng Ebalu revealed that the landowners were paid by the government almost a year ago, enabling works to progress well as per new timelines.
Meanwhile, Godwin Muhumuza, the Ibanda district speaker, has appealed to the public to be patient, saying that the government has committed itself to delivering the water by March.
