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Masaka City gets Shs60b roads, street lights fund
People walk past a solar-powered lighting system on Yellow Knife Road, Masaka, on November 6. The equipment was reportedly vandalised by motorists. The district has received funds for roads and street lights. PHOTO/WILSON KUTAMBA
What you need to know:
- The designs for these projects are already out and the city authorities are now waiting for bidders.
Masaka City has received more Shs60 billion from the World Bank to improve infrastructure.
Mr Godfrey Kayemba Afaayo, the outgoing Masaka City mayor, said the fund was secured under the second phase of Uganda Support to Municipal Infrastructure Development Programme (USMID).
The programme is aimed at enhancing institutional performance and improving service delivery in urban centres.
It comes with components such as road construction, street lighting and planting grass and flowers as a way of beautifying towns.
Mr Afaayo said the new funds would be spent on reconstructing key roads within the city, which are in a sorry state.
“We may not necessarily open up new roads this time, but we are going to put emphasis on reconstructing the existing roads,” he said at the weekend.
Mr Afaayo revealed that the city currently spends Shs200 million every financial year on patching up potholes, which is a costly venture compared to the cost of road construction.
Some of the roads that have been selected for reconstruction include Birch Avenue, which connects Masaka City to Alex Ssebowa Road and Hill Road that connects the city to Masaka State Lodge.
Other roads to be worked upon include a section that connects Uganda National Roads Authority- Masaka offices and Masaka Regional Referral Hospital, Alexander Road, Circular Road and Circular Rise.
Mr Afaayo added that the city council is also going to work on the road connecting Masaka-Mbarara Bypass to Armoured Brigade headquarters in Kassijjagirwa.
“We accept that most of the roads in the central business area have outlived their lifespan and we ask our people to be patient with us as we plan to improve the road network,” he added.
The clerk of Masaka City, Mr John Behangane, said part of the money will also be used to put up solar lights in the main trading centres and towns that were annexed to the city.
The targeted towns include Butende, Matanga, Kayirikiti, Kirimya, Nabinene, Kabonera, and Kingo.
“The designs for these projects are already out and we are just waiting for bidders. We expect to get the most qualified bidders to take up these projects,” he said.
The latest financial boost comes a few months after Masaka received Shs28 billion towards operationalisation of the new city which is an addition to Shs45 billion passed by the council for the Financial Year 2020/2021.
2015 works
In 2015, under the USMID programme, a total of 73 urban roads that make up 39.09kms in new up country cities were rehabilitated to asphalt concrete standards, with walkways, bicycle lanes to cater for all road users in the urban centre.
The latest project will cover the street lighting of Nyendo–Kitovu Road, Villa Road and a section of Bukakkata Road in Masaka.
