Masaka City gives landlords more time on old structures

Masaka City council authority has given another opportunity to landlords to upgrade all structures to city standards.
 The authorities had earlier given building owners up to March to refurbish their buildings to recommended standards or be condemned.

The landlords were expected to complete, renovate dilapidated buildings and acquire proper building plans before the grace period elapses.
 The Masaka City Clerk, Mr Geoffrey Bamanyisa, said many  landlords  had in the past five months approached them asking for more time .
 “The landlords asked for an extension of the period, and we hope they are going to use this period up to December 31 to put in place what is required. Starting next year, we shall take action against any landlord who would have failed to comply with the set standards,” Mr Bamanyisa said during an interview on Wednesday.

After the expiry of the grace period, noncompliant landlords will be dragged to court to pay a fine of Shs960,000.
 The city clerk revealed that they had also halted approving any building plan without modern sanitary facilities.
Dr Abed Bwanika, the Kimaanya-Kabonera  legislator, asked city leaders to conduct an operation and close all buildings that are still operating without functional lavatory  facilities.
“There is no way city authorities can improve the sanitation of the city when people are still using buckets to answer nature’s call. I wonder what’s wrong with  Masaka City dwellers, those habits of pouring urine on streets should end since we are now  a city,” he said.

Masaka City mayor Florence Namayanja said they were in the final stages of having local firms brought on board to take up the collection of garbage in the city.
The Nyendo/Mukungwe Municipality legislator, Mr Mathias Mpuuga, however, advised landlords to take advantage of the condominium law to develop the city.
“If you have land in the city, and you’re not able to develop it, instead of selling it off, make good use of the available legislations such as the  condominium law to have your land developed. With this, we shall have the issue of dilapidated buildings and undeveloped prime land in the city addressed,” Mr Mpuuga said.

Background
Masaka is one of the oldest urban units in Uganda.  It became a township in 1953, a town council in 1958, and later elevated to a municipality in 1968. It is among the new regional cities government created in 2020. 
In June, the authorities hired architectural consultants to review the city’s current structural plan. Under the structural plan review, experts will be able to identify spaces and allotments for various land use activities and services in all areas and determine the desired city growth patterns.