Several houses in Bunambutye resettlement camp in Bulambuli district have developed cracks triggering panic among the residents.
Set up by the Office of the Prime Minister for hundreds of households from the disaster-prone districts of Bududa, Manafwa, Sironko, Bulambuli, and Namisindwa, the camp is home to 274 families.
Madoi Damasco, who relocated from Bududa district with a family of 15 children says that they have sleepless nights for fear that the house may collapse because of the huge cracks all over.
John Wakube, another settler says when he relocated to the camp after losing his beloved ones during the Bududa landslides, he thought the government had taken them to the safest place.
He, however, says that his house is in a sorry state and needs the government’s immediate intervention.
Deo Wanganda, another victim, who joined the settlement camp in 2019, reveals that the house that shelters five of his family members, is not a house to have peace.
He laments that there was no reason as to why the government relocated them to a house that is now life-threatening.
Wanganda, explains that water has started entering the house through the cracked spaces making the house unsafe.
Geoffrey Mboyo, who lives with 14 family members in one house with cracks in every room, says the walls have turned out to be a nightmare.
According to Mboyo, the expectation was that the government relocated them to a safe environment, but the houses have similar life threats just like Bududa.
Julius Kidiyo, the chairperson LC1 of the resettlement camp, says, the majority of the affected houses are the ones constructed during the 1st and 2nd phase.
He believes that the 3rd phase houses shall soon also have the same challenges. According to Kidiyo, over 90 houses have developed cracks, and if the situation is not handled as first as possible people’s lives are at stake.
Julius Muchunguzi, the Senior Communications Officer in the Office of the Prime Minister, says, when the houses were handed over to the victims, they ceased belonging to the OPM.
He says that it is the responsibility of the occupants to see that the buildings are maintained and repaired.
The government started the relocation and resettlement of landslide victims to Bunambutye in 2019 after the Office of the Prime Minister bought more than 2,800 acres of land in 2013.