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Taxis to relocate as Old Taxi Park works begin
Excavation. Graders and tippers pictured at the Old Taxi park as construction starts as part of the planned renovation by KCCA and the government to streamline transport in Kampala. PHOTO BY ABUBAKER LUBOWA.
All taxis previously operating from the Old Taxi Park before the lockdown will be relocated to Usafi, Kisenyi, New Park and other city parks to pave way for redevelopment of the facility.
Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) last week announced plans to redevelop the Old Taxi Park which has been in a deplorable state for long.
The three-month redevelopment project will see major changes in the operations of taxis in the city.
Daily Monitor has established that a meeting between taxi operators and technocrats at KCCA was convened at City Hall to discuss the fate of the affected taxi operators.
Sources who attended the Monday meeting intimated to us that both parties agreed to relocate the affected taxi operators to Usafi, New Park, Kisenyi, Namayiba, Namirembe Road and other city roads according to the routes which taxis use.
The KCCA acting executive director, Mr Andrew Mubiru Kitaka, confirmed the resolutions of the Monday meeting while addressing journalists at Media Centre but noted that they will continue engaging the taxi operators to ensure smooth operations in the city.
“The redevelopment works at the Old Taxi Park have already commenced and we have agreed with taxi operators that they relocate to other parks in the city. We hope to complete redevelopment of the facility in three months and the entire project will cost Shs12b.” Mr Kitaka said.
The works will be undertaken by Stirling Civil Engineering Limited and Kiru General Services Limited.
The redevelopment had earlier been stalled by ownership wrangles among some businessmen who own part of the land on which the Old taxi park sits.
Asked whether the wrangles were resolved, the Minister of Kampala, Betty Amongi said the matter is currently being handled by the office of the Attorney General.
There are currently three public taxi parks in the city. These are; Old Taxi Park, New Taxi Park and Usafi Taxi Park. The rest of the parks across the five city divisions are privately owned.
Taxi operators argue that the private Taxi Parks have stringent operational regulations among which is heavy parking fees.
Besides, the three public taxi parks are congested hence cannot accommodate all the taxis. KCCA puts the number of taxis at about 14,000.
But the parks can only accommodate below 1,000 taxis. This makes it hard for all taxis to operate from there because there is no space.
The private taxi parks in Kisenyi, Namayiba and Namirembe Road have inadequate parking spaces too.
Redevelopment
The scope of work will include excavation and disposal of the existing material, installation of underground drainage lines, rock fill, and construction of new foundation layers for the carpet and surfacing of the constructed layers with asphalt concrete (tarmac). The new carpet will have markings to delineate areas for parking and for taxi and pedestrian movements.
The boundaries of the park will be retained properly to prevent mud from washing onto the carpet as has been the case. There will be lighting and some waiting sheds for passengers.
The park will have designated entry and exit points for both vehicles and pedestrians and will have access control for vehicles to avoid queuing on the surrounding roads and congestion within the park.
