President Museveni has cautioned Ugandans to stop invading and destroying lakes, rivers, forests and wetlands which are important water catchment points.
The president made the remarks while commissioning the newly refurbished Gulu Water Supply and Sanitation Project Phase 1 on Friday last week.
He stressed that the four natural features are not only important as sources of rain but they also help in the filtering of water to make it safer and easy to purify.
Museveni urged the people of Gulu to use the water to improve sanitation, health, agriculture and economic transformation.
According to officials, the Shs82billion water plant will increase the daily water production capacity from 4,000,000 litres of water per day to 10,000 000 litres of water per day and serve over 200,000 people.
The refurbishment works were jointly funded by the World Bank, the German Corporation through KFW and the government of Uganda.
Museveni also used the occasion to appeal strongly to Ugandans to jealously guard the environment against destruction bearing in mind that humanity cannot have enough and safe water when people are busy destroying the environment.
He commended the leadership of NWSC for their great vision that has resulted in the funding of most of the water works in the country using internally generated revenue.
He hailed Uganda’s development partners for their continued support to Uganda in a number of development programmes.
The Minister of State for the Environment Beatrice Anywar said that the Gulu water and sanitation project is in line with the National Development Plan, the sustainable Development Goals, and will improve the livelihoods of the people of Gulu.
She added that the sector is working to connect at least one clean water source per village with Shs25 per jerrycan, boost industrialization and connect clean safe water to all corners of Uganda.
“The recommended price of water at the NWSC pro-poor tariff is Shs50.
Most water vendors are selling it at Shs300 and above. We are working to sensitise our people against this exploitation.” she noted.
The German Ambassador in Uganda, Mathias Schauer commended the Ministry of Water and NWSC for the tremendous efforts made towards providing safe clean water for all by 2030.
He highlighted the importance of safe water in limiting the spread of infectious diseases.
He appealed to the people of Uganda to mitigate the effects of climate change that are threatening adequate water supply.