Residents of Port Victoria in Bunyala West Ward will receive funding totalling Sh17million from Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation through Water Sector Trust Fund (WSTF) to help upscale sanitation in the region for Upscaling Basic Sanitation for the Urban Poor (UBSUP).

Cheques to the tune of Sh1.85m were issued to the first batch of recipients by the department of Water Irrigation, Environment, Natural Resources and Climate Change, and Busia Water and Sewerage Services Company (BUWASSCO) led by the CECM Dr. Isaac Alukwe.

Of the total funding, Sh10m has been allocated for a Decentralized Treatment Facility(DTF) which is under construction at Mulukoba, Sh4m for Safisan Toilets and Sh3m for Other administrative costs and contingencies.

Out of the targeted 200 toilets, 139 are complete and the rest are to be completed in the next three months.

At the DTF, waste water treated effluent will be released to the lake while the sludge will be further anaerobically treated, with the resulting biosolids dried and converted into manure through a value addition process. The manure and the final treated effluent will only be released to the environment after meeting the NEMA standards.

Addressing participants at Port Victoria Social Hall, Dr. Alukwe urged them to sign up for the program funded by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation through The WSTF stating that it will help put money in peoples' pockets via packaging the value added biosolids that will be sold as organic manure thus increased income while reducing waterborne diseases.

He encouraged the women and youth to seize the opportunity and get empowered by the project since the DTF will be managed by Community Based Organization led by the themselves.

"The groups in charge of waste management will sell the fertilizer and benefit from the money made," he said, citing the role of the program as part of the Climate change Action Strategy.

The Managing Director BUWASSCO Erick Ojiambo said these toilets will be exhausted by BUWASSCO exhauters at a subsidized fee and taken to the DTF for processing and treatment.

Photo: Water Executive issues a cheque to a recipient in Bunyala.

Whatsapp