By Ronnie Kijjambu

The Government should support the construction sector to sustain its growth, Gerald Ssendawula, the chairman of the Private Sector Foundation of Uganda, has said.

“Let the Government intervene in the construction sector, like it did in agriculture, to enable Ugandans access credits at lower interest rates to buy machinery to enable them compete favourably for local or regional contracts,” he said.

Ssendawula was addressing members of the Uganda National Association of Building and Civil Engineering Contractors at Ivys Hotel in Natete, a Kampala suburb.

He said the Government intervention would build the capacity of local construction companies, hence making them competitive.

He said currently Uganda is exporting jobs to foreigners who do most of the construction work, which would have been done by Ugandans when the unemployment rate in the country is high.

“The exportation of jobs has gone very far to the extent of even operating a graders need foreigners where as neighbouring countries have special consideration for their citizens in specific areas in the construction sector” he said.