Kampala Flyover will delay by 3 months - Unra
An artistic impression of a cross-section of Kampala flyover at Centenary Park. Phase two of the project might delay due to failure by the management of Centenary Park to hand over more land. PHOTO/ COURTESY
What you need to know:
- Works on the Kampala Flyover commenced in December 2018 and consequently, Unra had in April pledged to have the substantial completion of the first flyover project done by next month
The long-awaited Kampala Flyover will be delayed by at least three extra months before it is fully delivered for use, the Executive Director of the Uganda National Roads Authority (Unra), Ms Allen Kagina, has said.
Ms Kagina made the revelation while appearing before the Committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (Cosase) on Wednesday.
She said the delay was due to the effect of Covid-19.
“The Kampala Flyover experienced some delays. There were two main reasons. The major one was Covid-19 [because] 2020 was a difficult year and up to 2021. A lot of things slowed down. Workers were sick, so the manpower also reduced and that caused delay in the project,” Ms Kagina said, adding: “The company had some delay in bringing of the equipment to be used, not because of Covid, but I think they had their own challenges, but they eventually brought them in.”
“However, they will catch up with time and we anticipate that they will finish, I think in March next year. We have extended the time. We had thought that they would finish in December [this year], but because of these delays, we’ve had to give them more time,” she added.
Works on the Kampala Flyover commenced in December 2018 and consequently, Unra had in April pledged to have the substantial completion of the first flyover project done by next month.
Once completed, the government anticipates that the long-awaited project will ease traffic flow around the clock tower area, in downtown Kampala.
The project is financed through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) at Shs224 billion for the first phase, while the second phase is expected to cost Shs659 billion.
Land-related cases
In furtherance of the ongoing probe into the Auditor General’s report findings of the Financial Year 2020/2021, Unra team told MPs that they have 376 cases relating to land acquisition .
These, according to Ms Kagina, comprise persons who have disputed the amount offered by the government as compensation and those having property disputes.
Ms Kagina indicated that the majority of the cases are being solved, largely through mediation under the leadership of the acting director of legal services at Unra, Mr Titus Kamya.
“A bulk of the cases are mediated. About 60 percent of the cases have been settled through mediation. We only proceed to litigation with about only 40 percent,” Mr Kamya said.
“We have an in-house law chamber which is comprised of 22 advocates who are split into three departments; one to deal with policy matters, other on contracts and claims while the other deals with litigation,’’ he added.
Legislators, however, demanded that Unra’s top brass furnished the committee with details of the said cases, with specific updates regarding the progress of each of them. “You will get the status of each case from what we shall present,” Ms Kagina promised.
