Jinja city-based Uganda Hotel and Tourism Training Institute (UHTTI) students will not have lectures at the usual campus with effect from next semester, New Vision Online has learnt.

The development is due to the ongoing construction works, which are part of the expansion project of the facility.

UHTTI, the only government-owned hotel and tourism training institute in the country, has been temporarily relocated to the YMCA complex located a few metres across the Jinja-Kampala road in the city’s Nalufenya parish.

Miriam Namutosi (middle) the UHTTI principal flanked by her deputy Moses Kanene (left) and registrar Richard Nkonge addresses journalists on Friday.

“The institute is to relocate to YMCA premises for a period of about two years to pave [the] way for construction works at the current site. We have procured the complex through a clear and transparent process and efforts are underway to remodel it to suit our areas of requirements,” Miriam Namutosi, the principal said.

Namutosi, on Friday, said everything possible was being done to transfer the institute’s facilities to the new site ahead of commencement of the new semester on August 12, 2023.

She explained that the transfer follows the decision to raze down the Crested Crane Hotel building, which for decades has provided facilities for hands-on training for the students.

“The contractor will need the premises to commence work and we are, therefore, obliged to temporarily relocate to allow construction work to start,” she said.

However, despite the changes, deputy principal Moses Kanene said academic activities would not be affected significantly, except for a slight reduction in the number of new students.

In total, he said the institute will have a total of 500 students instead of the 600 it has had previously, but stressed that all continuing students would be maintained.

“The quality of our training will not be compromised as a result of this transfer and admission for new students is ongoing,” he said.

The relocation paves the way for the construction of a shillings 20 billion multipurpose facility that will comprise lecture rooms, a computer laboratory, a library, a students’ multi-purpose hall, hostels, language labs, offices and sports facilities, funded by the World Bank.

The works, which are under phase two of the institute’s expansion project, also include the construction of a kitchen, health club and a swimming pool, according to Namutosi.

The first phase of the project, also funded by the World Bank, which started in April 2018, included construction of a magnificent 85 room training hotel with ultra-modern facilities.

The shillings 16 billion contract by Roko Construction Company is nearing completion and is expected to be handed over by the end of this year, Namutosi said.