Masaka City earmarks Shs130m for street lights repairs

Masaka City Council leaders have earmarked Shs130m for maintaining the now faulty street lights following a public outcry.

The faulty lights regularly break down and leave residents in darkness, leading to increased crime, the City Town Clerk, Mr Vincent Okurut, said in an interview.

“The complaints about the poor street lighting system raised by the public are genuine. I have also inspected the different roads at night and witnessed the same problem. We have now earmarked Shs130m for street lights maintenance from the local revenue resource envelope,” he said yesterday.

"As soon as the funds are realised, the repairs will commence, starting with the most affected roads before the end of this quarter (3rd)," he added.

The most affected roads include Yellow Knife where an estimated 80 percent of the lights are faulty, Edward Avenue, where 20 of the 23 streetlights installed are no longer functional, among other roads. 

Road sections at Kijjabwemi, Nyendo, and Kimaanya areas have since become a security risk because of darkness.

Poor lighting systems caused by constant blackouts at sections of the roads in Masaka City have been a major concern among the business community and the general public despite a promise by the concerned parties to investigate and fix the problem.

A section of the residents now accuse the Masaka City Council Authority of negligence despite the repeated reminders about the faulty lights.

Ms Suzan Nyakato, who deals in fast foods at Super Stage on Yellow Knife road, Kimaanya-Kabonera Division, said the lights on the road have been going off one by one without replacement.

“It is now more than five years since they started breaking down. We are now in complete darkness with most of our businesses affected. Some of our businesses operate in the evening hours. We need the lights,” she said.

Mr Abdallah Ssenabulya, the Masaka City Boda boda Operator’s Association chairperson, blamed the increased insecurity on the breakdown of the street lights at the different road sections.  

“In 2023, at least 10 of our members died in attacks by criminals who now take advantage of the blackouts at the various road sections. They use motorcycles to disguise themselves as boda boda cyclists,” he said.

Street lighting is one of the major components on roads constructed under Uganda Support to Municipal/City Infrastructural Development (USMID).

In March last year, the city mayor, Ms Florence Namayanja, halted the installation of new solar-powered lamps, citing poor quality lighting in some of the areas where the lamps had been installed.