Today, Members of Parliament from the Lango sub-region started a 3day road inspection tour of the road network in the Lango sub-region. Joined by the Ministry of Works & Transport, Office of the Prime Minister and the UNRA technical team, the MPs are inspecting the status of the vast road network in the region.
Led by Hon. Judith Alyek, MP Kole district and Chairperson MPs Lango sub-region, the 15 MPs from the most of the districts that make up the sub-region received an update on the various road construction & upgrading programs that are being undertaken by Government of Uganda through UNRA.
‘The Government has earmarked road infrastructure development as being a key enabler of economic development. It is therefore good that the Government executives and UNRA have travelled all the way to Lango to spend 3 days with us as we tour the roads’ Hon Alyek said.
‘Through such field visits, we as leaders of the people get assurance that agencies like UNRA are indeed working, and working for the right audience – Ugandan citizens,’ she concluded.
Interacting with the MPs, Eng Alfred Ogik, UNRA Head of Road Development said; ‘We have 3 main national key road projects whose construction works has begun, these include; Rwekunye – Apac (90km), Apac – Lira – Puranga (100km) and Soroti – Dokolo – Kamdini. The works contract was signed and contractor is on site for all three projects’
Severe flooding and damaging landslides struck the Lango region after heavy rainfall from 17th September 2021. At least 6,217 households in Amolatar have been affected by floods caused by the rising water levels on Lake Kyoga since 2020.
Keen to ensure that the initiatives being undertaken are indeed the appropriate ones, especially following the floods, the MPs made various stop overs to interact with the local leadership of the region. The LC5 Amolatar District welcomed the now accelerated road development being undertaken by UNRA.
‘Whenever there are floods, the roads are unusable and therefore our residents are cut off from essential services. We look forward to the conclusion of the now started road construction of the Amolatar—Ochero and Cwagere—Kwera road to ensure that service delivery to our residents remain uninterrupted even during floods,’ remarked Geoffrey Ocen, the LC5 Amolatar District.
The Lango road tour is a continuation of the deliberate engagement initiatives with regional MPs that UNRA has been undertaking. During a meeting between the Lango region MPs and UNRA on 8th September 2021 in Kampala, UNRA reaffirmed Government of Uganda’s commitment to ensuring the construction of world class roads to aid the economic transformation of the Lango region.
The Lango region road tour has started on Thursday 28th October 2021 and will end on 30th October 2021.
The field visits, among many already ongoing, are deliberate as a means of checking on the progress of key national roads and bridges construction going on across the nation.
Do you have a story in your community or an opinion to share with us: Email us at editorial@watchdoguganda.com
