Kampala — THE Tororo district council is to impose a sh50,000 fine on homesteads near schools that lack pit-latrines. The district health and education committee chairperson, Jacinta Ayoo, said about 50% of communities living around schools lacked pit latrines.

She said the communities instead use the school pit latrines, which fill up faster and constrain authorities in terms of emptying sewage and digging new ones.

"The penalty acts as a deterrent and an inducement to dig their own latrines. We don't need a situation where the pupils are put at risk of contracting diseases as a result of sharing pit latrines with the community."

She said the fine would be executed by school management committees.

Tororo woman MP Grace Oburu supported the fine, saying it would help improve the general sanitation in the district.

"When a culprit is penalised twice, he will realise the importance of digging his own pit latrine because the penalty is twice the cost of constructing a pit latrine," said the legislator.