Minister reads riot act to Apac road contractors

The State Minister for Works and Transport, Mr Musa Ecweru, has expressed concern over slow progress of works on Rwenkunye-Apac road, directing the contractor to expedite the process.

The 90.9 km road, which is being undertaken by Sadeem Al Kuwait General Trading and Contracting Company, is part of the 191 km of existing gravel road between Rwenkunye, Apac, Lira and Puranga towns.

In October 2020, President Museveni officially flagged off the Shs317b project with a three-year completion period.

However, during a site visit at the weekend, Mr Ecweru said only 3 percent of works had been done in the first half of the contract period.

“I am not an engineer but according to what I am see on the ground, there is slow progress. I am coming back here after four weeks; I should find some work that can impress me,” he said.

Mr James Olonya, a representative of Sadeem Al Kuwait, attributed the slow pace to continuous changes in the road design, and delay in the compensation of project affected persons, among other challenges.

“The original drawing that we had in the tender had some limitations, so there was a need to review [it]....the drawing we have now does not have the provision for the drainage systems,” Mr Olonya said.

“The issue of the [Ibuje] rock also went to court and we had to wait until it was resolved and then we commenced with the quarrying of the rock,” he added.

Since 2012, Ibuje Sub-county leaders have been battling with the family of the late Joseph William Okune over the utilisation of the rock at Tekidi Village.

The plaintiff, Ms Sophia Okune, being the administrator of the estate of her late husband, filed a suit at the High Court in Lira against the sub-county,  Mr Geoffrey Oyuru, Mr Simon Olal, Mr Denis Omodo and Airtel Uganda Ltd for recovery of the land.

The plaintiff argues that her late husband acquired a lease to carry out stone quarrying activities on the land but passed away in 2009 before realising his dream.

Mr Antan Hanna Anki, an engineer with Dar Consults contracted by Uganda National Roads Authority (Unra), said the reviewed design is now available for the Rwenkunye-Apac road.

He pledged to ensure that the speed of the work is improved.

“We promise that we will go with the faster speed and we will be able to compensate the lost time,”  Mr Anki said.

With funding from the Islamic Development Bank, the project entails upgrading from gravel to paved (bitumen) standard of the entire route.

Ms Allen Kagina, the Unra executive director, said upgrading the road will increase connectivity and ensure a stable, all-weather connection with the rest of the country.

Mr Ecweru commended the works  on Apac-Lira, Acholi-Bur roads. The road is being upgraded by Gulsan from Turkey at Shs470 billion.

Mr Samuel Opio Acuti, the Kole North MP, who accompanied Mr Ecweru, said Lango Sub-region needs good roads.

“This work is not fully satisfactory because our understanding was that the full reconstruction should begin with the forward maintenance,”  Mr Acuti said.

Works on lira-kamdini road yet to start

It was also established that the reconstruction of Lira-Kamdini road was yet to commence, a month after the groundbreaking was done. The road is included in the North Eastern Road Corridor Asset Management Project (NERAMP) as part of the Lot 2 section: Soroti-Lira-Kamdini financed by the World Bank and the government. The 340km stretch covers Tororo-Mbale-Soroti-Dokolo-Lira-Kamdini road. Mr Charles Knighter, the supervising engineer with Monta- Engil, the Portuguese firm working on the project, said they were still carrying out forward maintenance. “We have added crushed stones up to about 7 km as we prepare for the major work,” Mr Knighter said.

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