Govt unveils Shs134b road, market projects in Mukono
This photo shows an aerial view of a section of Mukono City. PHOTO/FILE/COURTESY
What you need to know:
- The projects are being constructed under a five-year plan funded by the World Bank.
The government has announced plans to tarmac access roads and construct drainage systems, and markets in Mukono District and Mukono Municipality at a cost of Shs134 billion.
The roads to be constructed in the first phase are; Kame-Nabuuti-Katosi road (8.3km), which will be built by China Communications Construction Company, Ltd (CCCC) for Shs46b, and Nasuuti- Ntawo- Bajjo and Kigunga link to be constructed by Sterling Construction Company for Shs43 billion.
The remaining funds will go towards the construction of Kame market and drainage systems in the district and municipality
Addressing Mukono Municipality leaders in Mukono Town on Monday, Ms Monica Edemachu Ejua, the undersecretary in the Ministry of Kampala Capital City and Metropolitan Affairs, said the projects are expected to be done within the given time frame. He urged leaders to supervise them to ensure value for money.
“Mukono District and Mukono Municipality are some of the entities that have the flagship projects; we are looking at the construction of road infrastructure and markets. One market that we are looking at is Kame, which we are designing and we shall advertise for the contractor,” she said.
Mr Francis Byabagambi, the town clerk of Mukono Municipality, hailed the government for selecting the area to benefit from the flagship projects, which, he said, will improve the state of infrastructure in the area.
“For Mukono, we have three principal priorities we have identified; roads, a market, and drainage. We have been allocated Shs134b; of this, 12.5b is for institutional capacity to enable us to implement the project; then the balance is for infrastructure; we are also hoping that if we make some saving, then we shall have street lights,” he said.
“Both have 18 months within which to complete the projects. The procurement process is complete, so we are ready to take the contracts to the Solicitor General for approval and then they can be launched by the President,” Mr Byabagambi added.
Funding
The projects are being constructed under the five-year Greater Kampala Metropolitan Area Urban Development Programme (GKMA-UDP) funded by the World Bank intended to improve the infrastructure development and physical planning in Kampala, Mukono, Mpigi, and Wakiso.
Ms Edemachu hailed the district and municipality leadership for working together to ensure readiness for the projects
“We are seeing that Mukono is ready because they have done a lot of awareness-creation in churches; the LCI and LC2s are on board; they have been taken through the programme,” she said.
“This is a programme for results; the funding is advanced based on meeting minimum conditions and we need right of way; we don’t have money for compensation on these roads, so we are telling residents that once we put these roads, they will increase value for their properties,” she added.
About the programme
The Greater Kampala Metropolitan Area Urban Development Programme (GMKA-UDP) seeks to implement the Greater Kampala Metropolitan Local Economic Development Strategy, which was endorsed by the Cabinet in March 2020.
The GMKA-UDP, valued at $566m (Shs2.1 trillion), includes a mix of loans and grants, with $518m allocated as a loan and $48m as a grant. The programme will further be facilitated by a loan worth $42.66m (Shs156.4b) from Agence Francaise de Development (AFD)
