City fountains dry up as street lights vandalised
Left, KCCA Executive Director Jennifer Musisi addresses journalists after the launch of the leisure park on Kampala Road last year. Right, the park in its present state. PHOTOS BY RACHEL MABALA & DOMINIC BUKENYA
What you need to know:
Challenge. Kampala Capital City Authority notes that solar panels have been stolen.
The campaign to beautify the capital city has suffered setbacks as fountains and street lights launched last year have been non- operational for months.
For instance, a leisure park on Kampala Road near Watoto Church has a fountain which has not been working for the past three months. Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) Executive Director Jennifer Musisi unveiled the Shs700 million park last year.
Other fountains at Yusuf Lule Road and Clock Tower have also been non-functional for months.
A travel around the city at night reveals that most street lights have been off for weeks, especially on Mukwano, Yusuf Lule and Bombo roads.
The KCCA supervisor communications and media, Mr Robert Kalumba, said they launched a solar light project on the streets but many solar panels have been stolen. “Most of the street lights that are off were once working but due to theft of the wires they went off. Vandalism is a big challenge to our operations,” Mr Kalumba said in an interview yesterday.
At the newly-renovated Shs6 billion taxi park, the lights have been non-functional for several days.
Mr Anthony Mugwanya, a taxi tout at the taxi park, said the lighting is unstable at night despite being newly installed.
But Mr Kalumba urged the public to be vigilant in order to protect the lights.
“As KCCA, we cannot keep tracing each and every street light we install. It should be a collective responsibility to track the city property,” Mr Kalumba said.
