The general public has for years decried poor sanitation and hygiene in government-owned health centres where some go for weeks or even months without water, whereas others just don’t have latrines altogether.
The public has consistently tried to sound the alarm through the avenues at its disposal but the government has also been consistent in turning a deaf ear. What is alarming is that they seem to not know how terrible the sanitation at these health centres is because they are privileged enough to take their sick relatives to India and private hospitals for medical treatment.
The Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga having learned that over 85% of government-owned facilities lack latrines and proper sanitation, she has suggested that they be shut down.
“I’ve been saddened to learn that 85% of govt-owned facilities lack latrines and proper sanitation. They should be shut down. They are instead causing more disease!” Kadaga said during the Parliamentary Symposium on Water, Sanitation and Hygiene organised under the theme, “The role of Parliament in positioning water, sanitation and hygiene as a key driver for national development” yesterday, November 15.
Kadaga believes that this will create a crisis in the country that will make the government wake up and take positive action towards improving the sanitation and general hygiene of these centres.
Kadaga also used the same symposium to call on the Ministry of Water and Environment to stop misinforming the public that there is higher water coverage in the country because that is not true at all.
“I want to ask the Ministry of Water to stop talking about the 79% water coverage because I have spent the last four years providing water in Kamuli District. I have moved around Karamoja and the percentage is about 45. Be sincere and we shall help you,” Kadaga said.