UGANDA, Kampala | Real Muloodi News | The State Minister for Kampala Capital City and Metropolitan Affairs, Kyofatogabye Kabuye, has stated that Kampala City needs a 10-year master plan with funding estimated at USh800b annually to revamp roads and fix drainage infrastructure.
The Minister made these remarks while presenting a statement on the poor state of roads in the city.
Underfunding, budget cuts and delays in the release of funds have limited the Kampala Capital City Authority’s (KCCA) road maintenance capacity, said the Minister.
He also stated that KCCA requires USh2.2 trillion to reconstruct the backlog of 353km of paved roads in fair and poor condition.
Additionally, USh610b is needed to implement the Kampala Drainage Master Plan, which covers 78km of primary drainage and 134km of secondary drainage.
Supplementary funding of USh40b from the Uganda Road Fund would help meet the city’s road and drainage maintenance needs, according to the Minister.
He urged the Ministry of Finance to increase funding for the development of KCCA roads, as recommended by the Committee on Physical Infrastructure.
The committee chairperson, David Karubanga, suggested that the Uganda Road Fund should increase the percentage allocated to KCCA from USh467b since local governments and urban authorities are set to benefit from the USh1b allocated to them.
Bukanaga North County MP Nathan Byanyima emphasised the need to increase funding to KCCA to keep roads in order.
He noted that the authority only receives 25% of funds from the Uganda Road Fund. Byanyima called on Parliament to allocate a large portion of the budget to Kampala City to maintain the roads in a motorable condition.
Kampala Central MP Muhammad Nsereko stressed the need for more attention to be put on improving road drainage in Kampala to keep the infrastructure in a good state.
He warned that roads would be washed away by heavy runoff water if funds were not allocated for drainage. Nsereko submitted that zero funds had been allocated to drainage in the budget.
Abubaker Kawalya, a member of the National Unity Platform (NUP) party and Rubaga Division North MP, recommended that funds collected through property tax should be channelled towards improving the state of roads in Kampala City.
Kawalya highlighted that the Local Governments (Rating) Act indicates that the amount of money collected is supposed to work on road construction, drainage systems, and city lighting.
Kampala contributes over 65% to the country’s GDP, and a lot still needs to be done on its road network, he added.
Mathias Mpuuga, the Leader of the Opposition, urged Parliament to ensure adequate funding is channelled to KCCA to enable it to improve the road infrastructure of the city.
He called on the committee on the budget to pick nugatory expenditure lines and allocate the money to Kampala because it is the face of the country’s civilisation.
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