Mubende-Kagadi road boosts trade, land value

The completion of the Shs20.3b Mubende-Kagadi road has seen many trading centres and businesses spring up.
The 105-Km road is expected to be handed over by September 15, the contractor, China Communications Construction Company Ltd (CCCC) said.

Mr Fred Mwesigwa, the LC3 chairperson for Kakumiro Town Council in Kakumiro District, on Monday said the completed section has increased the value of land and raised rent fees.

Mr Mwesigwa said a plot of land, which used to cost Shs5m, has shot up to between Shs10m and Shs15m.

He said many traders with stores in Mubende Municipality have opened up new ones in Kakumiro Town.

Mr Phillip Baguma, a trader in Matale Sub-county in Kibaale District, said the road has boosted food vending.

“We earn a profit of at least Shs20,000 to Shs 30,000 daily,” Mr Baguma said.
Mr George Nkunda, a resident of Kiyuni Trading Centre in Mubende District, said the road has opened up the market.

"Many people can access our areas for agricultural produce, and we can also sell it at a higher price. We used to get problems with the bad road but now things are better,” Mr Nkunda said.

Mr Apuuli Senvubu, another resident, said it used to take one two or three hours to travel from Kagadi to Mubende town but now it takes them about one and a half hours.

"The road has eased our businesses because we no longer waste time on the road and we also use less fuel,” Mr Senvubu said.

Dr Kasirivu Atwooki , the State Minister for Economic Monitoring, said the completion of the road is a fulfillment of a government pledge to the people in greater Kibaale.

"The completion of the road is good, but there are issues which should be handled such as compensation of a few people whose property was affected and have never been compensated, and working on access ways from the main road to rural community feeder road,” Dr Kasirivu said.

“We had wanted the road to continue up to Ndaiga through Muhorro Town but they were limited resources. We shall continue to lobby and ensure that it reaches Lake Albert,” he added.

Delays
China Communications Construction Company Ltd (CCCC), which started building the 105Km-road attributed the delays to compensation of project affected persons (PAPS), abnormal rain and the difficult terrain of the area.

The roadworks, which started in 2016, had been scheduled to end on February 18, last year.

“The terrain coupled with heavy abnormal rain disrupted our work. We spent more than $10 million working on about 50 swamps on the road,” Mr Le Qin Pu, the CCCC manager, said on Monday. Mr Mark Ssali, the Uganda National Roads Authority spokesperson, said Shs50.2b was allocated to 5,505 PAPs.

“We have so far paid out Shs36.6b to 4,509 PAPs,” he said on Tuesday.