Nasasira launches Jinja-Bugiri road works

By Geresom Musamali
and Esther Mukyala

Works minister Eng. John Nasasira on Friday relaunched the reconstruction of the Bugiri-Jinja road, saying the poor state of the road was a political eye-sore during the february general elections.
Reynolds Construction Company of Nigeria and Sonitra Ltd of Ghana are expected to finish the reconstruction of the 72.8km road by December 2008, using sh11.4b funding from the European Union (EU).
The road begins at Nalubale Dam in Jinja and ends in Bugiri town, on the highway to Mombasa Port.
Nasasira said the road was one of the most sophisticated in Uganda and it was designed to have 2.1m shoulders on each side.
He said, “The FDC, which had failed to penetrate Busoga, took advantage of the poor state of the road to stir up our people.”
EU ambassador Sigurd Illing attended the launch at Bugembe near Jinja.
“We hired a contractor in 2004 and expected work to be completed last month. Instead, the contractor wanted US$9m more and more time. When we refused, he went for Christmas and did not come back,” Nasasira said, adding, “I have come to apologise to all of you who were greatly inconvenienced by the road, and to thank you for ignoring FDC and giving us another term in office.”
Ends