Africa-Press – Uganda. The Ugandan government, through the Competitive and Enterprise Development Project (CEDP), a World Bank-funded project has held a groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of a Shs13 billion girls hostel at the Kasese-based Uganda Wildlife Research and Training College (UWRTC).
Handing over the site to the contractor, National Enterprise Corporation (NEC), the UWRTC college director, Robert Baluku, lauded the government for the massive investment into the only wildlife training institute.
“We are happy to announce that government has given us funds to have this dream achieved,” Baluku said.
He noted that the construction of the girls’ dormitory is part of the grand master plan aimed at transforming the college into a Centre of Excellence for wildlife research and training through the provision of safe and comfortable accommodation for the college’s female students.
“Government started with construction of the administration block and lecture rooms worth Shs20 billion and is now embarking on the construction of the girls hostel,” he added.
Baluku further revealed that the state-of-the-art girls hostel will also be used to generate income for the college through accommodating tourists, especially during the holidays when the students are off campus.
The three-year project will be supervised by Strategic Friends, part of the Strategic Group of Companies registered in Uganda to offer a wide range of consultancy services.
Speaking on behalf of the contractor, Capt. Elias Turinomuhangi said they are a technically equipped and self-supervising entity, currently carrying out construction works in all public universities in the country, with the exception of Kyambogo University.
“This is the smallest among the many projects that we are handling at the moment. Our purpose is to deliver the product and make Ugandans happy,” Turinomuhangi said.
Architect Herbert Muhoozi, the project manager speaking on behalf of Strategic Friends International, allayed fears of delayed works, saying the project will be implemented in record time.
“Once the resources are availed, we can have this project handed to the beneficiaries in a period of one year,” Muhoozi said.
The development at UWRTC is part of the government’s strategic plan to enhance the skilling of the tourism sector workforce through investment in infrastructure and research.
The Jinja-based Hotel and Tourism Training College (HTTC) has also been a beneficiary of this investment, with a Shs24.5 billion application hotel and a Shs19.4 billion modern institute infrastructure, among other developments.
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