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Unra starts Lira–Kamdini road repair
Dilapidated. Potholes in a section of Lira-Kamdini highway. The Uganda National Road Authority has started repairing the road following a public outcry over many potholes. FILE PHOTO
What you need to know:
- Government has started compensating people who were affected by the planned upgrade of Rwekunye-Masindi Port through Apac and Lira up to Acholi bur road in Pader District.
The Uganda National Road Authority (Unra) has started repairing the Lira-Kamdini highway following a public outcry over the poor state of the road.
Early this month, Daily Monitor published a story exposing the horrible state of the road. Since then, Unra directed the contractor to carry out emergency work on the 68.2 kilometre road network.
Mr Mark Ssali, the communications officer at Unra, confirmed the developments last Friday.
He said there was need to begin patching the road to ease traffic flow before the major rehabilitation works can commence in three months’ time.
“We got a contractor who is going to do the rehabilitation of that entire stretch with funding from the World Bank – that is Mota-Engil. They are on site, but while they are doing the road design, the contract also involves them doing the forward maintenance before they start full rehabilitation,” he said.
Maintenance
The forward maintenance involves patching up a few spots and ensuring that the road is passable.
Mr Ssali called for calm as the road repair starts.
“As Unra, we are fully aware about the issue, that is why we have directed the contractor to begin spot sealing of potholes,” he added.
Compensation
Meanwhile, government has started compensating people who were affected by the planned upgrade of Rwekunye-Masindi Port through Apac and Lira up to Acholi bur road in Pader District.
The construction works to tarmac the 256 kilometre highway is scheduled to start early next year.
The ongoing compensation is jointly being done by Unra and the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development.
Mr Ssali explained that under the first section that covers Rwekunye – Akokoro – Ibuje up to Apac Town, some 395 residents were evaluated and 320 have so far been fully compensated.
Without divulging the total amount spent, the communications officer said residents are being compensated in line with the recommendation of the government chief valuer.
He noted that both compensation and procurement of the contractor may be done by end of this year, adding that the actual construction works might start in 2020.
