Museveni flags off Shs753b roadworks

President Museveni on Wednesday flagged off the construction works of the Rwenkunye-Apac road (90.9kms) and Apac-Lira to Puranga road (100.1kms).

The development comes barely one month after a Daily Monitor story highlighted the plight of taxi drivers plying the Lira City-Apac Town route.

The newspaper reported that the drivers would spend more than two hours on the 61-kilometre road due to its poor state.

The Lira-Apac road is part of the 191km-busy route that stretches from Rwenkunye through Masindi Port to Apac, Lira and Puranga in Pader District.

Nonetheless, with support from Islamic Development Bank, the work on the road network will soon commence. The total sum for the construction of the road is Shs753.5 billion.

Ms Allen Kagina, the executive director of Uganda National Roads Authority (Unra), said upon completion, the road is expected to improve access to markets and social services, enhance inter-regional trade and reduce the cost of transport.

In August, Unra handed over the contract for the construction of the road to two contractors. According to Unra, the project was packaged into two lots for easy execution.

 “Lot 1: Rwenkunyu-Apac Road (90.9Km) has been awarded to Sadeem Al Kuwait General Trading & Contracting Company, Kuwait and Lot 2: Apac – Lira –Purang’a (100.1km) has been awarded to Gulsan Insaat Sanayi Turizm Nakliyat Ve Tecaret A.S. Turkey,” Ms Kagina said.

 “These roads will facilitate trade and exploit the agricultural opportunities in the area,” President Museveni said on Wednesday.

 “Also to note, is that the road from Tororo all the way to Kamdini, will be done afresh. We now have a lot of traffic headed to South Sudan using this road. It will be made stronger and wider. It will become a four-lane road, 18 metres wide with walkways,” the President added.

 He revealed that the government is designing a cable-stayed bridge at Masonville Port like that of Jinja District.

Later, the government will construct more roads such as the one from Dokolo to Namasale to the lake hence shortening the distance between Lango, Nakasongola and Kampala.

“In the future, we shall have a road from Soroti- Obalanga- Amudat- Acholi-Pii. The plans are many and as our revenue improves, more of these projects will be executed,” Mr Museveni said.

Reactions from locals

Mr Bakari Rajab, a resident of Lira City, thanked the government for flagging off the construction of the road. 

“I welcome the groundbreaking but the real test is the actual implementation given that it was supposed to start way back in 2016,” he said in a Facebook post yesterday.

 Mr Paul Omara, another local, said although the work on Apac-Lira road would commence soon “the one from Lira to Kamdini has become impassable”.

“We wish to request that the Lira-Kamdini road be given immediate priority,” Mr Omara said.