The first phase of road construction under the World Bank-funded Uganda Support to Municipal Infrastructure Development Program (USMID) has started in Kitgum municipality, after a six months delay.
The seven roads include Lakidi Road, Philip Adonga Road, Janani Loum Road, Kitgum Road, Tom Apila and Oneka Roads all located in the Central division, then Aya Hellen Dean located in Pandwong division.
The sites of the roads measuring a total of 2.92 kilometres, worth over 16 billion Shillings were commissioned in August 2021, and a Chinese firm, China Railway 18 Bureau Group Co. Ltd was given the contract for the work which is expected to last 18-months.
Francis Ocakacon, the Deputy Mayor of Kitgum Municipality says that the work started months after commissioning because of water lines and electric poles that needed to be shifted.
Ocakacon says the first design could not fit the road because it would mean demolishing other people’s buildings, and because the project has no component of compensating those whose property is destroyed in the process, they had to review the road design, which took three months.
Ocakacon says that although they have already agreed with the two families, they are still negotiating with one family that constructed a wall fence on a road reserve.
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