LIRA– Members of Parliament [MPs] on the Parliamentary Committee on Physical Infrastructure, have raised their concerns about the slow progress of the reconstruction of Lira-Kamdini road in Oyam district launched a month ago by State Minister for Works and Transport, Musa Ecweru.
The MPs made the complaint while on the monitoring tour of the road project days ago.
The MPs were shocked as they found the firm [Motaengil Africa] undertaking the road works patching potholes, yet the government launched a full reconstruction of a 75 km road stretch at the cost of Shs116bln.
A month ago, Minister Ecweru launched the reconstruction of Lira-Kamdini road at Baramindyang primary school in Ayer Sub-county, Kole district.
Motaengil Africa, domiciled in Portugal, was awarded the contract for the civil works on the project scheduled to run for 36 months.
It should be remembered that before the launch of the road construction project, a section of legislators and the communities in the Lango sub-region held a demonstration over the appalling state of the road. The demonstration was championed by former Oyam South MP Isaa Otto.
It attracted the attention of the government and later President Museveni would later meet leaders of the sub-region and gave them assurance that the road would be worked on fast.
The communities were excited over the project, saying if completed, the transport cost between Lira and Gulu and between Lira and Kampala would reduce.
However, the excitement could now hit a dead end after the Uganda National Road Authority [UNRA] informed the MPs that the firm is undertaking road maintenance to keep it accessible and later kicks off full reconstruction in July.
“The contractor is still assembling equipment as they wait to kick start work,” said UNRA’s Eng. Charles Naita.
This did not go down well with the MPs led by the chairperson Kigorobya County MP David Karuhanga, prompting the MPs to question why the government launched the civil works if they were not ready to fund the project.
MP Nelson Okello Lema [Maruzi North] said they would summon officials from UNRA and Motaengil to appear before the committee to explain more about the project.
“The government might have marketed hot air because there is no budget line anywhere specifically for Lira-Kamdini and also Apac-Lira which has only 3 percent of the work done since it started,” he said.
Former Aruu County MP Samuel Odonga Otto told the media that the MPs on the infrastructure committee were sidelined from the initial stage of the project and that there was no need for the legislators to monitor the road since they do not have enough knowledge about the implementation of the project.
“The gambling and jokes by UNRA, Motaengil, and executive of Lango Parliamentary Group should not be entertained,” he said.
https://thecooperator.news/shs116b-lira-kamdini-road-construction-launched/
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