Africa-Press – Uganda. Leaders and residents in Lango Sub-region have welcomed the reconstruction of Lira-Kamdini road, saying it will support trade in the area.
Mr Richard Cox Okello Orik, the Lira District chairperson, says initially when the works commenced in November 2022, leaders and road users were not impressed at all.
“When Uganda National Roads Authority (Unra) announced that the government was just going to rehabilitate the road, we felt unhappy because it was damaged beyond just a mere repair,” Mr Okello says.
“Lira-Kamdini road is our gateway to the capital city Kampala and to South Sudan. So, it is a very important economic road for us,” he says.
The Tororo-Kamdini road project or the North Eastern Road Corridor Asset Management Project (NERAMP) has been awarded to a Portuguese firm – Mota-Engil Africa.
The 340km road covers Tororo-Mbale-Soroti-Dokolo-Lira-Kamdini road.
According to Unra, the project funded by the World Bank is a unique project of its kind, which operates on the output and performance-based road contracts (OPRC) model.
The contract, which commenced in August 2018, has three components: engineering (works), project management and monitoring, and social risks management.
The reconstruction of Lira-Kamdini or Lot 2B commenced in November 2022 and will be completed in October next year.
Current status
Eng Khalil Odong, Unra’s highway engineer for Lot2 (Soroti-Kamdini), says the physical works now stand at 27 percent.
“Lot2 covers a distance of 189.4 kilometres and these are subdivided into two: Lot 2A and Lot 2B. Lot2A starts from Soroti up to Lira and Lot 2B starts from Lira to Kamdini (66.5km). And the scope of work here includes routine maintenance and then rehabilitation,” he says.
Eng Odong says even when the works are still ongoing, the impact of the project is being felt.
“I can see there is increased traffic on the road and at the same time its condition has improved so much. Vehicles have been diverted from going to Tororo to Kampala and the majority are now using Tororo-Kamdini highway,” he says.
Just like other leaders, the Lira District chairperson agrees that the condition of the Lira-Kamdini has hugely improved.
“Actually, I am one of the victims whose car got spoiled on that road. As I was driving, I hit a sharp pothole and one of my tyres got spoiled. And very many people were having challenges using that road and very many accidents were taking place,” Mr Okello adds.
“But I want to thank the Unra team who worked with other stakeholders to ensure that this road is reconstructed. As far as the rehabilitation of the road is concerned, although the works are moving slowly, at least now there is a bit of calmness in the sub-region,” he adds.
He also says the contractor (Mota-Engil) has so far exhibited good work. “I am actually impressed by what I have so far seen because I use that road almost every week,” Mr Okello says.
Kole District chairperson Andrew Moses Awany agrees that the contractor has been steadfast enough to handle the major works.
Grey areas
“The challenge is that there are spotted areas on the road that have not been worked on for reasons known to them but it’s our call to them to conclude on the major stretch already worked on so that the traffic order is maintained,” he says. Ms Milly Okello Cingkwete of Ongoo Village, Alidi Parish, Loro Sub-county in Oyam District, thanks the government for rehabilitating the road.
“There were rampant traffic accidents due to the poor state of our road and homesteads located at the roadside used to be covered with dust. Due to the ongoing rehabilitation works, we are seeing a decrease in road accidents and the road is not very dusty,” she says.
Benefits
Ms Lydia Ejang, a salon operator at Alidi Trading Centre, says the road has helped to expose her business to the road users.
“It has helped to bring me some customers. Before the rehabilitation of the road started, I used to receive few customers at my salon. In a day, for instance, I could receive on average two customers but now I receive on average four customers every day,” she says.
Ms Vicky Adong, a midwife at Corner Park, Ayer Sub-county in Kole District, says as members of the community, they are very happy with the reconstruction of the road because before the works commenced, they faced a number of challenges.
According to Ms Adiong, business people were spending a lot of money to repair their vehicles due to the bad state of the road.
“Even doing business was a problem because the whole area used to be very dusty but even when the works are not yet complete, we feel the road is now okay and the business is now booming,” she says.
Increased traffic
“These days we can receive about one patient per day but those days we used to get two or three patients because of the bad road but now the number has increased,” she adds.
Mr Walter Oming, a resident of Pida III Cell in Kole South, says many lives were lost between Lira City and Kamdini Town Council because of the bad condition of the road.
“But we are appreciating the efforts of the government of Uganda and the World Bank in reconstructing this road. We are finding that it is better now,” he says.
This newspaper established that indeed the number of vehicles plying the Lira-Kamdini road has increased. The nature of the traffic is multiple but the majority are heavy trucks.
The trucks are coming from neighbouring DR Congo, South Sudan and Kenya.
Transporters say the vehicles, which used to use the Kampala route from Tororo, have now turned to Tororo-Kamdini because it is shorter.
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