Fort portal city authorities have revived the monthly “clean Fort portal campaign” in a bid to reclaim its past glory as one of the cleanest Towns in the country. In the past, every last Friday of each month was dedicated to a general cleaning exercise. However, the campaign had come to a halt under unclear circumstances.
The exercise involved general cleaning of the entire city suburbs, desilting the drainage system, clearing all anti-malarial drains, and planting indigenous trees. On Friday while revamping the campaign, Edison Ruyonga, the Mayor of Fort Portal City, said they intend to intensify their campaign to cause a mindset change through absolute sensitization of masses through various platforms to overcome the increasing littering in the city.
Asaba said the city council has since passed the garbage management ordinance which provides deterrent measures against people who continue to litter the city. He said the ordinance, which is yet to be operational provides for punishment of all offenders who adamantly refuse to provide trash cans at their business and residential areas.
Major General Dick Olumu, the Mountain Division Commander, said UPDF is privileged to participate in the exercise to clean Fort portal city and pledged the commitment of the force’s routine participation to ensure that the exercise is sustainable. Olumu said the exercise not only helps to tidy up the city streets but also helps to boost the relationship of the forces with the community which makes security easier.
Richard Muhumuza, the Fort Portal City Central Division Mayor, says that in a bid to increase the participation of the stakeholders in the clean-up campaign, the division intends to pass a by-law that makes it compulsory for every individual to participate in the exercise for at least three hours monthly. In the past, the then Fort portal municipal council was known to be one of the cleanest towns in the country.
However, due to issues that were largely administrative, the municipality fell by far in standards after the collapse of the Kitere landfill, which was key in managing garbage generated across the city.
–URN
