Kampala — Bundibugyo district council has rejected the Government's programme of indoor residual spraying of DDT.

During a council meeting last Wednesday, the councillors argued that the anti-malaria project would scare away organic cocoa buyers.

According to the LC5 chairman, Jackson Bambalira, Olam and Esko, the cocoa buyers, threatened to stop buying the produce if the area was sprayed with DDT.

"We know that malaria is a number one killer disease in our district but we have no option. The Government should look for another alternative of containing malaria by supplying mosquito nets but not spraying DDT."

A kilogramme of organic cocoa is sold at sh3,500.

The secretary for production, Timothy Kyamanywa, said the district collects over sh4.5b in revenue from the two companies annually. Over 30 councillors resolved to petition the Ministry of Agriculture over the matter and copy the letter to the Ministry of Health.

Meanwhile, during an annual general meeting of the Sustainable Agriculture Training Network at Gardens Restaurant in Fort Portal on March 26, Kyamanywa urged civil society organisations to support the campaign against DDT spraying. The chairman of the network, the Rev. Canon Semu Baluku, said they had conducted a survey in the district on the impact of DDT.

Bundibugyo is among the districts the Government selected to pilot the residual indoor spraying of DDT. Statistics show that 320 people in Uganda die of malaria daily.