At least 104 people were yesterday reported admitted after contracting diarrhea at Bukalasi Heath Center in Bududa District. The outbreak, described as not grave so far, is the first major indication that the suffering of the people is far from over and could indicate a beginning of post disaster challenges.

Authorities, however, ruled out the more deadly cholera, which had been reported as having broken out. The Uganda Red Cross Society, which has been central in recovery and resettlement since the March 1st landslide, said in a statement yesterday that most of the victims have been admitted to Bukalasi Health Centre.

The agency linked the diarrhea outbreak to lack of proper sanitation due to the large numbers of people crowding in the two camps created and contamination of water systems damaged by the landslide.

Affected places
The cases reported so far are among the people who were relocated to Bukalasi and Bulucheke camps. Meanwhile, the government announced a major plan for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the affected areas of Bududa and Butaleja districts. The State Minister for Disaster, Relief and Refugees, Mr Musa Ecweru, announced what he called a three-month plan for the displaced people which would run from March to May 2010.

Mr Ecweru told a news conference in Kampala that the government would also take care of the displaced victims for three months on a Shs10 billion budget.
“As we mourn the demise of over 300 dear ones, we are at the same time experiencing massive displacement by landslides and floods in all the six districts of Mt Elgon. Over 300,000 people on the Mt Elgon region and the neighbouring low lands of Butaleja, Budaka and Tororo districts have left their homesteads due to fear of landslides and floods. Many gardens have been washed away,” Mr Ecweru said.

He said another half a million face displacement in the Rwenzori and Kigezi highland areas. He said the planned government intervention is “a short-term intervention as we look for a permanent solution. We shall keep feeding them, supporting them in health facilities and education,” he said.

With the uncertainty over actual numbers of bodies recovered and actual victims possibly still buried under the rubble, Mr Ecweru put the official government figure of bodies retrieved at 83 and 300 still missing. He said efforts to recover more bodies would continue.

Debate
The new position continues a major dispute between health experts and political actors on the wisdom of continuing or ending search efforts. “It will continue until such a time when we feel all bodies have been recovered…we have made an appeal to the UN to avail a heavy duty helicopter that can airlift a motorised buckle scooper,” Mr Ecweru said.

The disaster erupted from 800 metres above Nametsi Trading Centre and the landslide buried Matuwa, Nametsi, Kubehwo, and Namangasa villages.
With about 300 people still missing and presumed dead, the locals’ wish to end the search would mean that those people would never be given a befitting burial. It would also make it difficult for the government to ever know how many people actually died.

“The locals want us to stop and declare the place a mass grave but we feel all remains should be removed,” Mr Ecweru said.

AT LEAST 20 UPDF soldiers deployed to retrieve the bodies of people buried by the landslide in Bududa have fallen sick. The soldiers have reportedly contracted diarrhoea. Maj. Gen. Julius Oketta attributes the outbreak to drinking unsafe water. Medical officials had earlier warned of an epidemic outbreak in the landslide-hit area. Senior health ministry chiefs arrived in Bududa with a consignment of drugs for the sick soldiers. “They will contain the outbreak,” Oketta said, stressing that it was not cholera. Six more bodies were yesterday recovered after intensive digging by UPDF soldiers. “The bodies were decomposed, swollen and the stomachs had burst,” Oketta remarked. “The relatives identified them by the clothes and took them for burial.” Local leaders said 365 people were missing after the landslide. Some 93 bodies have been recovered one week after disaster struck. Only 17 people escaped the mud death trap. They are nursing various injuries in Bududa Hospital. The army says it will only halt the hunt for bodies when the authorities tell them to stop. Bududa district chairman, Wilson Watira, said on Sunday he could not call for a stop because the residents still hope the bodies of their beloved ones can be found. “They have camped at the site and refuse to leave,” he told a meeting at the district headquarters. A UPDF spokesperson, Capt. Henry Obbo, said heavy rains were hampering the operation. Meanwhile, five IDPs were arrested for stealing relief items, Police commander Joel Aguma said.

OVER 300,000 people in the Mount Elgon region and the neighbouring lowlands of Butaleja, Budaka and Tororo districts have been displaced following the landslide that devastated Bududa in eastern Uganda last week, the state minister for relief and disaster preparedness, Musa Ecweru, said yesterday, Another 500,000 people from the Rwenzori and Kigezi regions in western Uganda are at risk of landslides and floods, the minister added. A powerful landslide struck Katebwa sub-county in Kabarole district on Saturday, displacing some 500 people. A day earlier, a landslide occurred in Kisoro district, killing three people and destroying property. Ecweru warned that floods are likely to take place in other low-lying areas in the country, including Karamoja, Lango, Teso and Kampala. Addressing a press briefing at the Media Centre yesterday, the minister said 83 bodies have so far been recovered by the rescue teams in Bududa. Over 300 people are still missing and feared dead. Only 31 survivors have been rescued from the three affected villages of Nametsi, Kubweho and Namangasa. Following instructions given by President Yoweri Museveni over the weekend, he said the search for bodies will continue until all the dead have been recovered. The Government will only declare the disaster site a mass grave after the search is called off. He explained that the Government plans to evacuate residents in disaster-prone areas to safer places when the emergency operations are over. The Government is also looking at the possibility of opening up a road to reach the affected communities, he added. In that respect, they appealed to the United Nations and other development partners to provide a heavy-duty helicopter for airlifting a motorized buckle scooper. Ecweru further announced that a three-month emergency work plan has been developed to host people at risk. The sh10b plan will include setting up learning facilities for school children, rehabilitating water sources, reconstructing roads and bridges and providing health services. In addition, he said, a five-year programme for permanent resettlement of all people at risk is being developed. This will involve buying land in safe locations, construct new homesteads and provide them with a means of livelihood. The long-term programme is estimated to cost sh200b ($100m). Ecweru said the Ministry of Health has provided a van to sensitise communities about health issues following an outbreak of diarrhea-related infections in the Mount Elgon region. A total of 104 cases of diarrhoea have been reported at Bukalasi health unit, according to the Uganda Red Cross; the majority of them children. Cholera has not been confirmed yet. The minister castigated leaders who steal relief items and warned that those caught will be arrested and prosecuted. “It is a shame that some people want to take advantage of other people’s distress. Anyone caught stealing relief supplies will be severely punished and that will serve as a deterrent for the rest,” he said. Among the items supplied by the Government so far are two generators, 500 cartons of drinking water, five vehicles and sh35m for coffins. The minister cited population pressure as one of the reasons forcing people to encroach on mountain slopes throughout the country. In a related development, the district disaster management committee has resolved that all the affected people be moved from Bukalasi to Bulucheke camp, which will be the centre of the emergency operations. Of the 1,014 people who were living in Bukalasi, 153 people had by Sunday evening been relocated to Bulucheke, where UNICEF erected 35 tents.Greetings! I usually don’t do this type of solicitation but this is an emergency situation and we are trying to help people in Eastern Uganda in some small way as we can. Over 100 people are found dead, many still missing, and 6,000 families are in desperate need of food, clothing, shelter, beddings, and basic household supplies. A member of URF Kampala Chapter, Robbinah, lost 16 extended family relatives. We have identified a small community where she is from which can use blankets, food, and other supplies - her family has taken in over 30 people, others are camping at a nearby school and a sub-county offices.   How we are responding: On Tuesday, our students at Hope Academy, teachers, URF staff and women’s group are going on a door to door campaign in the villages where we work in Masaka collecting corn/maize and beans. We want to empower local people to help each other. Everyone grows beans and corn/maize; so in Masaka there is plenty; everyone can give something. The students grew corn and are going to donate half of it (about 250kgs). We need about $500 to coordinate transfer of these supplies to those who need them.   URF has received $850 from people of Pilgrim Church in Boston and this will buy blankets for over 170 people. URF is also putting in funds for 1,000kgs of corn flour for posho. With your help we can do more:   - $5  = a blanket - $5  = 25kgs of corn/maize flour (feeding a family for half a month) - $10 = 5 mosquito nets - $20 = a mattress - $100 = 500kgs of corn/maize flour (feeding 50 people for half a month) - $200 = 1,000kgs of corn/maize flour (feeding 100 people for half a month) Also $10 buys 3 dozens of cups, $10 buys 5 sets of 8 saucepans, or $10 for 2 bedsheets)   You can send a check to Uganda Rural Fund, 300 Fraser Purchase Rd, Latrobe, PA 15650. Or donate online http://www.ugandaruralfund.org Indicate “for emergency relief”   Those in Uganda can donate by calling Robbinah 077-2570893 or Harriet 070-1640552 - cash or in-kind. Thank you very much.    At least 106 bodies had been recovered Tuesday after massive landslides wiped out several villages around Mount Elgon on the Uganda-Kenya border, an army spokesman and local aid officials said. “In Butaleja, more than 6,000 households in four subcounties were affected by the flooding, and the area’s only two primary schools were washed away, Ntabadde said.”   http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/-/688334/875774/-/wj7idr/-/index.html