By moses Andama
In Masindi—–
www.mknewslink.com
Fire gutted Masindi district works department structures leaving the Entomology store burnt to ashes in Kisengya cell Masindi Municipality.
The offices including the works and housing unit, water office and entomology are housed at formally Tsetse control structures which were put in place in early 1950s to control Tsetse flies.
According to Saidha Masach the Masindi district Entomology officer, the fire started from the nearby bush this afternoon leaving the Entomology store completely destroyed.
“I was at home by the time the fire started. Nothing much was destroyed inside the store but only the reagents which were used to control Tsetse flies in the 1950s perished completely. I had kept other items including the beehives somewhere else. We no longer have any other store now as the Entomology office and this is going to affect our operations,” she said while speaking to the New Vision online at the scene.
Alfred Ocen, the acting district engineer noted that immediately they got the information about the fire outbreak they informed the police which swung into action immediately.
“I want to thank the police for the quick response because they contained the fire from spreading to other buildings within the same area. It’s unfortunate that we have lost the Entomology store. The fire started from the bush and it was set by reckless people who had their ill motives,” he said.
From observation, the store and other unoccupied dilapidated structures are surrounded by the overgrown bush which is putting them at the risk of getting burnt by bush fire.
When asked why so, Ocen noted that there’s a conflict over land between the district and the immediate neighbors, adding that whenever the district authorities want to clear the bush, the neighbors do not allow.
“The impasse has never been resolved and this fire was going to cost the district a lot. My appeal to the concerned is to intervene and resolve this impasse to avoid more losses,” he lamented.
Speaking to the district speaker, Moses Kiirya, who visited the scene, he explained that fire started from the neighbors who were doing reckless bush burning, adding that there’s a land conflict between the district and their immediate neighbors which caused the bush to overgrow.
“What we are going to do as the district is to resolve the boundary issue and fence off our land to avoid such incidents. We have lost important materials which would be used for study purposes,” explained Kiirya.
By the time of filing the story, fire brigade personnel from Masindi Central Police station led by George Elwa had contained the fire from spreading to other buildings and the situation had normalized.
Elwa who was the scene declined to divulge much about the incident saying they were still gathering more details which would be forwarded to the district police commander and the Albertine Region police spokesperson.