The delayed construction of roads undertaken by Multiplex Construction Company Limited in Kabale Municipality has sparked anger among the business community and residents.
In 2021, Multiplex Construction Company Limited won a contract worth Shillings 21.7 billion to tarmac the 0.76 kilometers (KM) Bwankosa road that connects Nyerere Avenue and Kabale shopping center, commonly known as Ki-college; the 0.34 km Bushekwire road that connects Kabale shopping center to Kabale main road in Central Division; and the 2.49 km road that connects the Kabale Diocesan headquarters to Katuna-Kabale-Mbarara highway.
The roads are being upgraded under the Uganda Support for Municipal Infrastructure Development (USMID) project. However, the company is under fire from local leaders because of the slow pace of the roadworks.
Vanansio Kakogoso, a businessman along the 0.76 kilometers (KM) Bwankosa road that connects Nyerere Avenue and Kabale shopping center, commonly known as Ki-college, says that he has incurred a lot of losses ever since the company started upgrade works. The proprietor of Muhunde Clinic, Dr. Annania Muhunde, says that he has been greatly inconvenienced and that the trenches dug along people’s businesses have affected them greatly, leaving them with no parking space.
The parish priest of St. Mary’s Cathedral-Rushoroza, Rev. Fr. Christmas Austine, termed the construction works “seek and hide,” where the contractor hides and surfaces to work when officials are visiting the progress of construction. He asked the contractor to desist from taking people for granted but rather stand to execute his contract.
The Kabale Municipality mayor, Sentaro Emmanuel Byamugisha, blamed the delayed works on the incompetence of the contractor, which is portraying a bad image to authorities in Kabale Municipality and the government at large.
Meanwhile, drama ensued when Dr. Annania Muhunde demanded clarity from contractors as to why the construction work had been delayed.
Bwonkosa street is about 20 percent of the scope of works, and the 0.34 km Bushekwire road that connects Kabale shopping center to Kabale main road in Central Division is about 10 percent of the scope of works.
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