UGANDA, Kampala | Real Muloodi News | On Saturday, 20th November 2021, the Rt Hon Prime Minister, Robinah Nabbanja officially launched the Uganda Homes Expo 2021 at Kampala Serena Hotel. Her speech at the event focused on the need to support developers of affordable housing.
The Prime Minister expressed her appreciation of property developers who are striving to provide affordable housing to Ugandans, recognising the critical role they play in addressing the needs of the housing market in Uganda.
At the same time she acknowledged that in order to produce affordable housing, there is a need for affordable building materials, noting that Uganda manufactures most of its own building materials, like cement. Therefore, she advised that government is working to reduce electricity prices to support construction industries.
“We know that the cost of electricity is still high, and the President directed me to ensure that the industries of Uganda manufacture these items for affordable housing at low costs.” Therefore, we are trying together with the Minister for Energy to reduce the cost of power to at least five cents per watt so that people developing houses can buy these materials at a cheap price,” she said.
However, Hon. Nabbanja implored developers not to use unprofessional engineers or substandard building materials in an attempt to cut costs, referencing the rampant number of collapsing of buildings in Kampala. She said that a misplaced attempt to cut costs has ended up costing some property developers everything.
“We have observed several gigantic structures collapsing. I want to inform you that the government has a laboratory in Kireka that can test the quality of building materials to avoid substandard materials, like buying iron bars as soft as sausages. I want to challenge developers to avoid cutting costs by using unprofessional engineers, because you want to cut the cost but in the end, you lose it all,” she said.
She added that government is closely monitoring the situation through the National Building Review Board (NBRD), which was set up to help regulate the construction of building structures.
She further informed real estate developers that housing is one of government’s development priorities, and that government is looking to promote and finance investment in affordable housing development. Therefore, government is offering developers of affordable housing loans through the Uganda Development Bank.
“We want to give you money at a low cost through the Uganda Development Bank (UDB). Use UDB and get soft loans, which can help you develop yourself and the country.”
She also informed the audience that the government is trying to pass a law that will stop mediocre real estate brokers from destroying the good name of those who are genuinely uplifting the real estate sector, calling it “A very good law.”
Concerning the recent bombings, Prime Minister Nabbanja concluded her speech by saying that the government is committed to provide a conducive environment and security for all.
The Prime Minister assured her audience: “What happened should not scare you. The government is still in charge, and we will stay on top of the suicide bombers.”
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