The Speaker of Parliament, Rebecca Kadaga, has applauded Arab Contractors for upgrading the Tirinyi-Pallisa/Kumi-Kamonkoli roads from gravel to bituminous.
Kadaga was content that government will get value-for-money from the contractor. “I have seen. I have driven through the road and it is good,” she said.
Kadaga made the remarks after inspecting the road, including a quarry at Okaracha on Monday, 5 October 2020.
She, however, urged the contractors to address a request from the Local Council 1 Chairperson to provide water sources for the local communities in the area of Opwateta sub-county.
“You should get for the communities here many water points. These ladies spend so much time walking for long distances to look for water,” she said.
Kadaga also tasked the state minister for works, Peter Lokeris to fast track the upgrade of Pallisa-Kaliro Road.
“This road has a bridge that connects Pallisa to Busoga. This road should be fixed so that our people can move and transact their businesses comfortably,” she said.
The minister who also applauded the contractor for the progress made, urged them to promote local content as well as engage in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).
“The component of CSR and local content is embedded in the contract. Why should you look for people from outside these communities to work,” he wondered.
The Managing Director, Arab Contractors, Mohamed Tolba said that since the US$74 million road works started in 2018, they have made 86 per cent progress on the Tirinyi-Pallisa-Kumi Road and 83 percent progress on the Pallisa-Kamonkoli Road.
“We expect to deliver Pallisa-Kamonkoli Road in February 2021 ahead of schedule by four months and for the Tirinyi-Pallisa-Kumi Road in June 2021,” he said.
Tirinyi-Pallisa-Kumi is a 67 kilometre road while the Pallisa-Kamonkoli Road is 44 kilometres.
Eng. Ivan Agaba from the Uganda National Roads Authority revealed that the contractor is still challenged with access to seven kilometres of land from people who have already been compensated.
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