The sanitation policy of Kyenjojo town is not yielding any results, leaving the town council in an appalling condition.
The policy which has been in place for two years, spells out proper disposal of garbage and management of sewerage in business premises and homes. It also outlines grounds for penalties for individuals who defy the policy. Under the policy, each home or business premise should have toilets and whoever defies the policy faces punishment.
However, the policy has never been implemented, putting the lives of the residents and traders in the town council at risk.
In Kyenjojo town, garbage is dumped in front of shops because there are no dustbins, and some business premises don’t have toilets, which forces people to urinate and dump human waste in the corridors between buildings. The major market has only one toilet.
Francis Kanyoro, a trader at Kyenjojo market says the town council should address the poor sanitation, or else there may be an outbreak of cholera. He says that the only toilet at the market can’t be used by more than 100 traders.
Kanyoro also says that most of the time, the town council enforcement officers are only interested in collecting money for licenses, but they don’t mind about the poor sanitation.
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Richard Mujuni, a resident of Kasiina says that the town council should be blamed for the poor sanitation because they have failed to construct public toilets. He says that as a result, human waste is dumped on the roadsides.
Mujuni says that the town council should utilize part of its land and construct public toilets.
He notes that since the town council has plans of gaining municipal status, it should improve on the sanitation.
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But Henry Muhereza, the Health Inspector Kyenjojo town council, blames politicians for frustrating implementation of the policy. He says that when some of the premises are closed for defying the policy, the proprietors run to the politicians for help.
Muhereza says that some of the premises were closed last week by the law enforcement officers, but they were opened with the help of politicians, whom she declined to reveal. She also claims that the politicians intimidate the enforcement officers.
The Mayor Kyenjojo Town, Twine Twaha says that the council lacks funds to construct public toilets. He however, says that it shouldn’t be an excuse for residents not to have toilets.
