Prime
Hoima wants better road tools
Pupils of Kaigo Primary School in Kiziranfumbi Sub-county in Hoima District pass through a muddy road. District leaders want enough construction equipment. PHOTO BY FRANCIS MUGERWA.
What you need to know:
Councillors say the current road unit has one grader designed to carry out minor tasks.
Hoima
Hoima District officials have asked the central government for a better equipped road unit to fix the deteriorating road network.
The district council sitting last week said the current road unit cannot effectively execute the works. The unit has one grader designed to do minor work, a lorry, a double cabin pick-up truck and two motorcycles.
The district vice chairperson, who is also the secretary of works, Mr Fred Kakoraki, said the district needed a wheel loader, a compactor, water bowser, an excavator and a bulldozer in the road unit.
The council also resolved to terminate a Shs64 million contract that was awarded to a company to construct the Kyarusheesha-Butoole road on grounds that the contractor had delayed to finalise the project. District authorities said the firm was awarded the contract in the 2010/2011 financial year and was reportedly supposed to complete the road, estimated to be about 10 kilometres, in the same year. The district engineer, Mr Julius Ssentamu, said the contractor had only cleared the bush and graded the road.
Shoddy work
“Installation of gravel and culvert installation and a bridge at Nsangi River have not been worked on,” Mr Sentamu said. Council resolved to retain the Shs30 million, the balance that was supposed to be paid to the contractor upon completion of the road.
Kahoora Division district councillor Vincent Muhumuza called for stern actions against contractors who engage in shoddy projects. The road is one of the access routes to Lake Albert where firms are searching for oil deposits.
