GERALD MATEMBU
Leaders in Mt Elgon sub region want government to compensate people in mudslide prone areas so that they can permanently vacate the mountain slopes and give room for conservation.
The move is aimed at expediting the evacuation of people from risky areas. It is also intended to to find a lasting solution to the problem.
The leaders made the remarks during a stake holders meeting held in Mbale to fast track the implementation of the Bulambuli resettlement programme.
They told the minister for Disaster Preparedness Hilary Onek that the process of building houses for the survivors is time consuming and unsustainable since government will continue being liable for the welfare of those that it resettled compared to individual resettlement.
The area leaders appealed to government to adopt the compensatory approach for the remaining survivors alongside the ongoing Bulambuli resettlement programme adding that the the bandwagon resettlement strategy is unsustainable.
The leaders cited Bulambuli resettlement programme which has itself been delayed due to encumbrances in acquisition of land adding that by now hundreds would have already relocated to safer areas.
They further highlighted gaps and unfulfilled promises by OPM in the first bandwagon resettlement in Kiryandongo which they say has seen the return of some people to the risky areas.
According to them, the Shs 40 billion which is being spent on resetting 300 households in Bulambuli could compensate 800 households at a rate of Shs 50 million each.
Onek welcomed the idea and pledged to support it.
Over 100,000 families are living in high risk areas across the region. Landslide survivors in Namisindwa district had earlier asked government to allow them identify land in safer areas individually and in groups.
