Govt starts upgrade of roads in Kapeeka Industrial Park

The government has flagged off the rehabilitation of the infrastructure in the Liao Shen Industrial Park in Kapeeka, Nakaseke District.

The project, which will cost Shs319 billion, involves the upgrading of roads and the construction of a water treatment plant in the park.

State Minister for Investment Evelyn Anite said the project is in line with the government’s policy of facilitating investment in the different industrial parks across the country.

“Government is fulfilling part of its obligation in line with our investment policy. Government committed Shs319b for infrastructure works at Kapeeka Industrial Park,” Ms Anite said at the commissioning of road works last week.

She said of the cash allocation, Shs179b will go towards improving the road network while Shs138b is for the drainage and wastewater treatment plant. The work will be undertaken in three years.
The government has so far released Shs15b for road designs, opening the road, drainage, and the water component. The works will undertaken by the UPDF Engineering Brigade with supervision by the Ministry of Works and Transport and the Ministry of Water and Environment.

The park, which is home to 26 factories, covers 2,500 acres of land in Kapeeka Sub-county. It also houses the largest ceramic and sanitary factory in the country. The other industries include those of leather and garments, agro-processing, electronics, construction, packaging, and fishnets, among others.

Last September, the Parliament Committee on Trade while on tour at the park tasked the government to fulfill its obligation of facilitating the investment climate at all industrial parks in the country.

“The road network is still poor yet we are witnessing progress in the manufacturing sector at the park. The industries that are now operational give us hope that the industrial park at Kapeeka is one of the most promising in the country,” Mr Mwine Mpaka, then chairperson of the committee, said then.

“They have a better road network, water treatment plant that the government pledged to undertake,” he added.

Mr Moses Ssenfuma, the Kapeeka Sub-county chairperson, said the improvement of the road infrastructure would facilitate the transport system that is currently incapacitated.

“The roads leading to Kapeeka Industrial Park have been in poor shape. We are glad that the government is now fulfilling the pledge made to facilitate the construction of better roads,” he said
The government is extending similar infrastructure development projects to the other industrial parks at Mbale, Namanve and Soroti in Eastern Uganda.

At Mbale, the infrastructure works under a Shs411b pre-financing contract are ongoing and jointly supervised by the Uganda Investment Authority (UIA), and the ministries of Works, and Water and Environment. The works at Mbale Park are being undertaken by China Railway Number 3 Group.

Background 
In 2021, the government began the construction of 25 industrial parks in different parts of the country. Three of the industrial parks are privately owned.