Drainage system plan to be rolled out next year

KCCA officials say the project will start in the next financial year.

Incidents of accidents where people have died as a result of falling into open manholes and drainage systems have become rampant, despite Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) saying it is fixing the problem.

With the recent accident claiming a life of Simon Akiiki, 28, the KCCA physical planning director, Mr Joseph Ssemambo, said they are revising a detailed master plan for the Central Business District.
“We are moving steadily, and currently we are doing work in a piecemeal, working at black spots such as the works going on around Serena Hotel,” Mr Ssemambo said yesterday.

He said the Authority was developing a flood-list mapping to ascertain how much flood the city experiences during rainy seasons.

“Kampala currently sits on 24 hills and all the water from their tops drains down in the central business centres, thus the floods. Our experts are studying how best we can handle the entire programme,” he said.

Mr Ssemambo said the programme could be rolled out next year.
“We are targeting next financial year to start implementing this master plan,” he said.

He said if the programme is successfully implemented, Kampala will be free of open drainage systems.

fmukisa@ug.nationmedia.com