Buyende, (UG): At least 150 out of over 1,000 families in Buyende district over the weekend received relief food donated by the Woman MP Hon Nakato Mary Annet to help them recover from the hailstorm characterized by strong winds early this month.
The food which included 10 tons of maize flour and one ton of beans is part of Hon Nakato’s individual program to support the people who were affected by the hailstorm and strong winds in the entire district which blew off house roofs destroying crops and killing their livestock.
Hon Nakato started with the most affected areas including among others Kidera town council and Buyanja sub-county.
While launching the distribution exercise at Butayunjwa village in Kidera town council and Kabalongo village in Buyanja sub-county, Hon Nakato advised people to plant trees so as to counter the diverse effects of strong winds from Lake Kyoga.
“..I decided to come and support my people and so far I have managed to mobilize some posho and beans at least to give to the affected people. Some of the people have nowhere to sleep as I talk now and because the office of the prime minister is at a standstill, as a leader and concerned citizen I had to push on as an individual and I want to extend sincere thanks to my personal friends that have collaborated with me and this is what people expect out of us,” Hon Nakato said.
The Woman MP called for the need to curb the effect of strong winds in Buyende district by planting trees and requested the government to give out more trees to the people for environmental conservation to mitigate some natural catastrophes.
“My observation is that the majority of our people have been cutting more trees than what they plant and I urge the public to consider tree planting as a factor and it will be the only solution to curb down these strong winds from lake kyoga. I also beseech fellow leaders to mobilize the people to embrace tree planting as the way to go,” Ms Nakato added before asserting that about 154 families are currently homeless and her letter to the OPM office about the same has not yet materialized.
The Mayor of Kidera Town Council, Mr Tezikuba Patrick told DailyExpress that at least 32 families were affected in Butayunjwa village and other 4 families in Kyanyonyo village who lost their houses to strong winds, crops and animals. He commended Hon Nakato for coming up to support the locals.
“We thank Hon Nakato for supporting our people with posho and beans since many lost their property and crops and it’s not easy to access food now. I also call upon the government to support our people with iron sheets to construct their houses since some of them are unable especially the widows,” Mr. Tezikuba said.
The LC1 chairperson of Butayunjwa village Mr. Kimeze Peter called upon the government and some organizations to support the people with other things besides relief food donated to his residents by the district woman representative.
In the same vein, Ms Nangobi Robinah from Kabalongo village in Buyanja sub-county commended Hon Nakato for the 20kg of maize flour and 10kg of beans. Nangobi says it has been a problem to get food since she lost her two acres of crops.
“I thank Hon Nakato for giving me these 20kg of posho and 10kg of beans. I have been suffering with my children without food ever since I lost my two acres of crop but I’m now relieved after getting this food,” Ms. Nangobi said.
Meanwhile, Hon Nakato says the relief food will be distributed in the whole district with a concentration on mostly affected areas, adding that the exercise of food distribution will be completed within this month.
She also gave out at least 300 tree seedlings to some people and planted some trees at various stopovers as a way of mobilizing people to embrace tree planting in Buyende District.
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