Prime
Shs1.3 billion cooperative institution project stalls
Uganda's legal tender. PHOTO/FILE
What you need to know:
- Shs700m: Amount of money that the government released by the end of 2019 for the construction of the college, according to the Education ministry.
The construction of a Shs1.3b multipurpose block to house Uganda Cooperative College (UCC) in Tororo District has stalled after the contractor allegedly abandoned the site over lack of funds.
Nokas Contractors Ltd began building the multipurpose structure in 2018, and was to complete it within a month to house administration offices, ICT library and lecture rooms, and reduce congestion.
But the construction has stalled and, according to the district chairperson Mr John OKeya, due to money-related handicaps.
“The construction was supposed to be completed by now, but the delay raises eyebrows,” he said, asking the ministry to investigate the inordinate delay in completion.
Mr Okeya made the remarks during the college’s first graduation ceremony on the weekend during which 362 students received diplomas and certificates.
“I’m a member of the governing council, but whenever we raise the issue [of the stalled project] to the ministry, we are not given an answer,” he said.
Currently, the college is operating in a rundown building of the District Agricultural Training and Information Centre (DATIC’s).
Ms Caroline Acharu, the principal, said the institution is in great and urgent need of the better infrastructure to address space shortage.
“It was our prayer that the contract was going to be executed within the specified time frame, but we are disappointed with what has happened,’’ she said, adding that the constraints have limited their ability to admit more students.
Attempts to get a comment from the contractor were futile, but one of the employees, speaking on condition of anonymity, attributed the delay to the government’s failure to release the funds.
Ms Jane Egau, the Education ministry’s director for higher technical, vocational education and training, promised to follow up the matter.
She added: “What I know is that by the end of 2019, the ministry had already released Shs700 million out of the total Shs1.3 billion needed for the project’s completion.”
