By John Odyek

THE 84km Jinja-Bugiri road construction has been hampered by the diesel shortages. The contractors have written to the Government notifying it of the setback.

“Last week we were at a standstill for five days. We got some litres today and have resumed work,” Thomas Grave Hansen, the project manager, Reynold Construction Company, said on Wednesday.

“I have informed my employer (government) of the situation, that we are facing problems with diesel.”

The Nigeria-based company and Ghana’s SONITRA are jointly rehabilitating the road funded by the European Union at sh110b.

Construction started last July and is expected to end in December 2008. Hansen said about 10% of the work had been done.

He added that a dual carriageway between Jinja town and Kakira was being built.

Temporary repairs are expected to be done on the road to improve movement before it is tarmacked. Works minister Eng. John Nasasira recently said the road would be long-lasting.

“There are major complaints like maintenance of the road. It will be tarmacked and sealed to reduce dust and the rest will be completed later,” Nasasira noted.

Fuel scarcity that hit the country in mid-March has been attributed to problems on the Kenya oil pipeline. Uganda has negotiated with Kenya for her trains and trucks to load fuel directly from Mombasa.

But President Yoweri Museveni has blamed the Kenya Revenue Authority for demanding that Ugandan companies pay taxes in Mombasa instead of at the Uganda and Kenya border post of Malaba. The fuel companies fear double taxation.