ARUA-Arua City Council has approved a physical development plan 2022-2040 to guide land use in the city. The leaders in the city are optimistic that the plan will help resolve unplanned structures, which the new city has been grappling with since its creation in 2020.
The Arua City physical planner, Moses Findru said community members were fully involved in drafting the plan. “The fact that members of the community were involved in the planning will mean that we shall not struggle to implement it. “We used taxpayers’ money for this activity and it will be a disappointment if we fail to implement the plan,” Findru argued.
According to Milly Inzikuru, the deputy speaker of the city council, Milly Inzikuru the plan has been drafted in time to respond to the increasing population. “Our population is steadily growing putting pressure on land, the only way to help the situation is by planning for land use,” Inzikuru said.
She added: “Let us [leaders] talk to the people so that they can also know and own this plan to help in implementation.”
Moses Adriko, the city secretary of finance, said that copies of the plan need to be availed to the local council leaders to guide them in land transactions. “We need to give copies to our local council leaders such that they can discourage the construction of buildings in areas not planned for residential,” Adriko said, noting that if the plan is implemented successfully, wetland encroachment which has become a big challenge in the city will be addressed.
The city council speaker, Teddy Yakko, urged for the involvement of all stakeholders in implementing the plan. “Everyone including the developers need to be involved in the implementation of the plan if we are to achieve the desired goal,” Yakko said.
“Sensitisation of the community to own the plan should be ongoing and we need to make them understand that it’s for their own good,” she added.
Kalsum Fadimullah, the Arua city secretary of social services, is hopeful that the plan will foster development in the city. “Investors in the past feared to invest in the city because of having no plan, but this plan will attract several investors now,” Fadimullah noted.
This plan funded by Mott Macdonald where 401 kilometres square of city land was planned, awaits final approval by Uganda National Physical Planning Board [UNPPB] before being implemented.
According to 2014 census, Arua city’s population was estimated at 309,000 people. The population is projected to be 1,098,000 by the year 2040 at an annual growth rate of 3.3 percent.
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