By Godwin Abedican

Arua

Residents of Arua main government prison quarters in Arua city are crying foul over terrible smells that have for long been coming from the National water and sewerage Corporation (NWSC) sewerage treatment plant within the area.
 
The sewerage treatment facility that was constructed by Dott Services Limited from February 2015 to 2018 was meant to cover 23 kilometers of sewer lines and connecting around 900 houses in Arua city and other growing neighboring areas.
 
However since its completion, an unpleasant smell keeps coming from the area that moves across the road affecting road users and those who stay within the main prison staff quarters.
 
Jane Apollo a staff at the women’s prisons and resident of the main prison barracks describes this as unhealthy for them. SGT Likia Adriko Philliam, who also resides within the quarters says, sometimes eating food at home is very difficult when the smell spreads.
 
“This sewerage in most cases affects us and makes feeding from home very difficult. When the lagoon was newly established this challenge was not there but it seems now they are not doing the treatment rightly or properly. We tried tabling this before National water but they say, they always do the treatment from where it’s done. The challenge is they over space the treatment period,” Philliam says.
 
Eyotaru Flista, a mother and resident of the quarters says it as a result of this, it has become hard for the children to live freely. “One of the mistakes I see leading to this is that, sometimes they bring wastes from other places and instead of pouring in the pits, they pour just outside and it flows on open ground. Even if you go there you will find it has dried just outside there and that one has been smelling terribly here,” She says.
 
Makanga Enock, a staff of Uganda prison service and resident of at the quarters who says he has had experiences living near such plants, pins this on mismanagement of the plant. “This lagoon most times produces a very filthy smell. It is funny when a visitor comes and the first thing a visitor experiences in the compound is that foul smell. It’s funny how you start explaining such things to visitors and gives a very bad appeal to our visitors.

Even without the wind you will still sense that strong smell from the lagoon. I would pin that to the management and how they are managing the sewerage. I believe their management has not been to that extent where by it allows people to live freely and peacefully near it,” Makanga explained.
 
In a bid to see how this can be controlled, SGT Onega Gilbert, the Village Heath Team (VHT) member of Arua main prison quarters says they have plans of tabling the matter to the authorities. “This thing is especially when it rains, you find that it becomes very terrible. Sometimes, in the evening or night, it worsens. We request they should work on it because it is not healthy for us and sometimes we cannot eat food at home because to the smell,” Onega narrated.

 
SGT Onega Gilbert, the VHT of Arua main prison quarters during an interview
 
However, when contacted, Jessica Ondoru, the Area Manager National Water and Sewerage cooperation Arua promises attention to this issue raised by the residents. “I need to find out from my sewage team because we have two lines there. One which is under the responsibility of the prisons and the other of National Water. I need to let my sewer team to go and check, but it is not about the treatment as they may say.

We have our processes but it needs to be understood that sometimes smells can come and it will not come from the lagoon. We have manholes around the prisons fence that brings sewage from the prisons I will let my team assess, maybe there could be blockages that lead to these smells,” Ondoru explained.
 
From observations made, apart from the treatment plant some slabs where the sewerage line joints are connected have also not been cemented hence contributing to the smells from the lines.

COVER PHOTO: A view of the treatment plant from Arua prison quarters By Godwin Abedican