Africa-Press – Uganda. Lawmakers on the Committee of Physical Infrastructure has asked the government to fast track the allocation of funds towards the construction of Isingiro roads that connect to Tanzania and Rakai District.
The committee spent the better part of last Thursday in Bukanga to assess the requests by local leaders on the need to have Isingiro-Ntantamuki-Rakai, and Isingiro-Ngarama-Kashumba-Bugango-Tanzania tarmacked.
The lawmakers agreed that government should expedite the construction process because of the impact it will have on the development of the area.
“Indeed we have been convinced that these roads need to be constructed. First, they link this area to the border with Tanzania but also people here are hardworking with lots of economic activities but their efforts have been frustrated by the poor road network,” Mr Robert Kasolo, the MP for Iki-Iki County in Budaka District and the committee vice chairperson, said.
Mr Kasolo said the World Bank has already accepted to fund the construction of the roads but wanted to first conduct a feasibility study and their designs before committing funds.
“We need Shs6b to do the feasibility study and designs of these roads such that the World Bank can commit funds. The good thing we are now in the budgeting process, we will make sure these funds are available to see if the demands by the World Bank are fulfilled and the construction of the project starts, “he said.
Justification
Namutumba Woman MP Mariam Naigaga said the poor road network is frustrating the locals’ efforts to transform from peasantry to socio-economic giants.
“What we have witnessed is that the communities here are hardworking with lots of matooke, cattle and lots of agricultural activities but the transport and connectivity is hindering and frustrating their efforts. As Members of Parliament, we take this as a matter of urgency,” she said.
Bukanga County MP Steven Kagwangye said the roads have been neglected by the government and that this is the time to have them worked on.
“Government has always tried to regularly maintain these roads but failed. The roads have a lot of traffic, especially trucks carrying produce from both Uganda and Tanzania, but also they are used by thousands of refugees hosted among these communities,” he said.
He said while the people in the area are economically productive they have been let down by the poor road infrastructure.
Bukanga North MP Nathan Byanyima said the two roads cover a distance of more than 190 kilometres.
“More than 160 lorries of matooke pass on these roads but when they are half empty because of the roads being poor but also accidents are common here because the roads are narrow,” he said.
Mr Wilson Baguma, the mayor for Bugango Town Council, which borders with Tanzania, said because of the poor state of roads in the area, locally generated revenue has declined.
“This Isingiro-Ngarama-Kashumba-Bugango road has been our major source of revenue from facilitating trade between our town council and Tanzania. We could get Shs1.3m every day in revenue from the cross border trade but now we get between Shs500,000 and Shs600,000 every day because of the poor road network,” Mr Baguma said.
In January, Vice President Jessica Alupo said the government was committed to have Isingiro-Rakai road tarmacked and the same road was included in the National Development Plan III for Financial Year 2020/2021 for construction.
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