Students of the Islamic University in Uganda (IUIU) on 5th January, 2021 (Tuesday) engaged officials of the Mbale City Council over the wastes that are poorly disposed near the fence of the institution.
Speaking during the interactive meeting , Islamic University Students’ Union (IUSU) Government Vice President Sadam Badru asked the council to take an instant action to deal with the problem.
Badru says the poor disposal of the wastes around the fence of the campus can cause diseases to the students and surrounding communities.
“We are requesting the council to take an instant action to deal with the problem. The wastes may cause diseases such as Cholera to the students and surrounding communities which can disturb the health of the country on top of COVID-19 pandemic,” he says.
Badru says the institution through the students union plans to plant flowers around the fence but the garbages are acting as a pushing factor.
In his remarks, IUSU Minister of Campus Affairs, Isaac Ismael Samanya asked the city council officials to always include the students of Islamic University when it comes to voluntary works in Mbale city.
Samanya says students of the Islamic University are ready to partner with the council and other stakeholders to clean up the surrounding of the institution for betterment of Islamic University and surrounding communities.
“IUIU is a community based university and it is our aim to see N’koma and Mbale city always in a clean state. We need to see clean N’koma because IUIU students buy food items that side. We need a healthy area that will benefit the service providers and the consumers,” Samanya says.
Mbale City Town Clerk, Paul Batanda assured the students of Islamic University that the council will take an instant action to curb the malpractice.
“Sanitation is a big challenge because of of the mindset of Africans. It is obvious that the malpractice happens during the night. As a Town council , we will put in place measures to stop poor disposal of wastes. I think we should be working hand in hand with the institution to grab everyone found disposing wastes anyhow,” Batanda says..
Batanda says he is going to engage the division clerk of the area to remove all the garbages around the fence of Islamic University.
Last year, Mbale changed from a municipality to a city. With the new status, Mbale is expected to pull up socks in making sure that it is matching the status of a city in terms of sanitation among others.
