Following the disbursement of$75M (270billions) by Ministry of Finance planning and Economic Development to Standard Gauge Railway contractor Yapi Merkezi to kick start initial preliminary works for the 273KM SGR that was launched by the President of Uganda in November 2024 and the project is to take four years.
The project supervisor of Standard Gauge railway has introduced the contractor Yapi Merkezi and Project consultant SSF Joint Venture to the respective stakeholders starting with Tororo to Buikwe districts.
The contractor started with initial preliminary works that included mobilizing equipments, workforce to carry out engineering designs and designing the railway route, construct labour camps, construct concrete batching units and identify sources of local materials.
The entire 1725KM SGR is intended to ease the movement of goods between the port of Mombasa in Kenya to Kampala, Ugandan capital and subsequently to DRC, South Sudan and Rwanda.
The SGR is a game changer to the Ugandan economy and a strategic investment.
It will ease the cost of doing business in the country but cutting the cargo transport costs by half from the current $120 per tonne and the time spent in moving goods from the initial 5 days spent to move goods from the port of Mombasa in kenya to Kampala in Uganda. with completion of the standard gauge railway this time lag will be reduced to 24 hours this turning Uganda into a land linked country as opposed to landlocked.
The SGR construction is going to offer employment opportunities to Ugandans during the construction and completion .
The biggest beneficiaries are residents in Tororo where the contractor intends to set up a motioning yard in Malaba town council where cargo goods will be classified, an international Railway station at Kasoli together with an inland container deport, the contractor will also set up a railway slippers factory in Tororo to produce slippers for the 273km long line.
The multiplier effect of the project is enormous and therefore there is need for concerted effort from all stakeholders ranging from political, technical, traditional, religious, media, suppliers, business persons etc to embrace the investment project by government of Uganda and it’s a game changer.
Government has both political and financial commitment towards the standard gauge railway project.
As the project expands there is need for every Ugandan to reflect on how to fit into the $12.8B either in labour supply, goods and services for the project.
This project comes with advanced technological expertise therefore the young people should take advantage of the project to equip themselves with skills in the railways sector.
The writer is a Deputy Resident District Commissioner Tororo
Email: albertamula@gmail.com
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