Govt signs two grant agreements with Netherlands
KAMPALA– Government on Thursday signed two grant agreements with the Kingdom of the King Netherlands at the ceremony that took place at the Ministry of Finance headquarters in Kampala.
The first agreement involves EUR 650, 000 [about Shs 2.47 billion] that will go towards Uganda’s health sector, especially to finance the feasibility studies to strengthen the capacity of 14 regional referral hospitals in the country.
“This will enable the development of a EUR 55 million [about Shs 209bln] project to be funded by the Netherlands government,” said Finance Minister Matia Kasaija who signed the agreement on behalf of the Ugandan government.
Another grant agreement signed between the two parties involves EUR 735,000 [about Shs 2.79bln] to undertake feasibility studies for the improvement of faecal sludge management in the Greater Kampala Metropolitan Area [GKMA].
Ms Karin Boven, the Dutch Embassy Ambassador represented her country at the signing of the two agreements where Minister Kasaija stressed the importance of the bilateral relations between Uganda and the Netherlands.
“I would like to appreciate the bilateral and profound decades of cooperation with the government of Netherlands in supporting Uganda’s development programmes since 1991,” Kasaija said.
He said the Netherlands has supported Uganda in areas of sustainable trade, food security, climate change, refugees and humanitarian support, strengthened health systems among others.
The Minister said the healthcare referral system in Uganda is facing several challenges, such as inadequacy of services and resources like skilled staff and equipment, as well as overcrowding, and increased operational and maintenance costs.
“Our government very much appreciates your support to this project because it will strengthen the referral hospitals, by providing access to well-functioning and sustainable medical equipment with supporting infrastructure and adequate trained staff,” Kasaija said.
He added that GKMA has had sanitation management challenges for quite some time now, with the faecal sludge collection rates in this area still remaining low and with limited capacity, despite government’s deliberate interventions. “Therefore, the Netherlands support to National Water and Sewerage Corporation [NWSC] could not have come at a better time,” he said.
He said government is committed to achieving the goals enshrines in the National Development Plan III.
He said the funds will be accounted for, urging officials in the ministries of Finance and Health as well as NWSC to ensure the timely and speedy implementation of the programmes.
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