Prime
KCCA secures Shs32b loan to install street lights
KCCA secured the money for street lights from the French government. PHOTO/COURTEYS
What you need to know:
- Kampala, according to KCCA has a daytime population of four million people which reduces to 1.5 million during night.
Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) has said it has secured €8m (Shs32b) to install about 20,000 street lights.
The money, secured through a loan from the French government, KCCA said, will be used to light parts of the city centre.
Speaking in Kampala yesterday during the launch of a new energy product, Ms Dorothy Kissaka, the KCCA executive director, said that whereas a number of Kampala streets have been fitted with street lights, only 8 per cent were functioning.
The move comes at a time when most of the 1,800 solar powered street lights installed by KCCA in 2019 are not working.
“This new street lighting project includes the intention to revamp the city’s street lighting. Only 115 kilometres of the city’s 1,200 kilometre of roads have been fitted with lights, of which only 8 percent are functioning,” she said.
Kampala is largely dark during the night causing a number of problems, among which include accidents and a rise in crime.
Ms Kissakasaid road traffic incidents during the night contribute 49 percent of injuries in government hospital in Kampala.
These, she noted have increase due to rapid urbanization, worsened by rapid growth in Kampala’s population.
Kampala, according to KCCA has a daytime population of four million people which reduces to 1.5 million during night.
In the next five years, Ms Kissaka said KCCA will heavily invest in infrastructure development by building roads, pavements and setting up green spaces for people, noting a number of loan facilities and funding from government had already been secured.
