GULU- Establishing Low cost housing in Gulu City would be a good investment to cater for low-income earners, Jackie Kemigisha Kiza, the Commissioner for Urban Development in the Ministry of Local Government has said.
Kemigisha said the remarks on Monday while commissioning a draft physical development plan for Gulu City, where she said low cost housing needs government’s financial support.
She noted that the proposed plan is a milestone for Gulu City as it will bring about planned infrastructural development.
However, she said the new plan should also cater for low-income earners, who she said could be supported with alternative financing models to access low cost housing.
The official further said that the new development would widen the revenue base for Gulu City Council, adding that other cities and urban authorities across the country could adopt the new development plan.
The new physical development plan meant to take 18 years, was developed by the Global Green Growth Institute [GGGI], a global multi-stakeholder organisation dedicated to pioneering and diffusing a new model of economic growth in developing and emerging countries.
The new plan will be under scrutiny for 90 days before being approved by the city council later this year.
The lead programme manager GGGI, Dr. Ronald McGill noted that they have mapped out several slum areas within the city for low cost housing.
Denis Okuya from the National Planning Authority [NPA] urged the city authorities to ensure adherence to the new physical planning, which he said, will attract more investments into the city, hence enhancing its revenue.
The Deputy Mayor, Christine Olok who received the final draft of the new physical development plan commended the government for facilitating the process.
She noted that the plan would be pivotal to the infrastructural growth of the city and address the challenge of encroachment on wetlands for farming and construction.
“The physical development plan unveiled today provides us with nothing but a working tool that we will align our efforts and concentrations,” Olok further explained.
Meanwhile, the 2019/2020 report by NPA indicates that only 40 percent of the infrastructure in Gulu City has been approved as technocrats battle developers of illegal structures.
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