ARUA DISTRICT WATER COVERAGE INCREASES BY 18%

Arua district chairman Alfred Okuonzi speaking to the media at his office. Photo by Morish Dramadri.

By Morish Dramadri

Arua city

Arua district local council 5 chairman Hon. Alfred Okuonzi has praised ministry of water and environment for the increased water coverage within the district that currently stands at 56% up from the initial 38% in 2021.

Arua district currently has 1,673 domestic water points that serves a total of 374,925 people in rural areas according the report by Uganda water atlas.

Hon. Alfred Okuonzi while speaking to the media on Tuesday commended the ministry for its efforts in increasing the water coverage and access to the people in the district.

“When I came in, the water coverage in Arua district was just 38% but as I talk now the water coverage in the district is 56% and the people behind this are the people from the ministry of water and environment, 38% to 56% is a very big achievement,” Okuonzi revealed.

Though the access to clean water in the district has drastically risen to 76%, a recent survey report show that 46% of all protected water sources in West Nile are contaminated raising question among the public.

Okuonzi however believes that a meticulous effort is needed to maintain water quality in the district.

“The availability of water in our communities, what is the proportion of our people accessing safe water, what is the quality of our water? The settlement patterns we have, the increasing population we have has a bearing on the quality of water, we may be scoring very high in terms of access to water but can we have a conscientious effort to look at the quality of the water,” Okuonzi commented. 

According to the report by Uganda water atlas, the majority of the population of Arua district depend on Deep borehole as their main source of water and this stands at 57%.