Construction of new bridge on R. Nile starts October

  By CHARLES KAKAMWA

Construction of a new bridge across the River Nile in Jinja which had been scheduled to begin in December last year, is expected to start in October this year, an official from the Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) has revealed.

Mark Kasibante, an assistant engineer at the UNRA Jinja regional station told New Vision that the pre-contract negotiation stage, had been reached, which he said implies that a contractor for the work was secured.

Kasibante who said at least 90% of the process of acquiring a contractor has been accomplished, stressed that a lot has to be done including scrutinizing the firm, to avoid mistakes in execution of the $120m (about sh295b) mega project.

"When there is a consultant and contractor in place, we shall sign the contract and launch the project. We hope that services of the design consultant will begin in October this year," Kasibante said without disclosing the firm contracted to handle the project.