By Emojong Osere

WORKS for the first tarmac road in the Karamoja region start in December, according to Dan Alinange, the National Roads Authority spokesperson.

The 290km stretch is expected to cost sh300b.

Players in the tourism sector are already upbeat that the completion of the Muyembe-Moroto-Kotido road would aid the scaling-up of the sector’s performance.

“The road will cost over $150m (about sh300b),” Alinange told the New Vision last week.

“The tender will be advertised by June 2010.”

e said three companies would be contracted for the road, which runs through one of the country’s most volatile areas.

Karamoja is host to Kidepo Valley National Park located along the remote and rugged Uganda-Sudan border.

Serapio Rukundo, the tourism state minister, said the road would trigger the development of other social infrastructure, including hotels and lodges.

These, he said, were vital for the tourism sector’s transformation.