Remove Nakivubo from city centre
Apr 23, 2008
A Malaysian investor has forwarded a proposal to the Government to upgrade Nakivubo War Memorial stadium into a modern 35,000 all-seater facility. State sports minister Charles Bakabulindi sounds upbeat about the proposal. If he can’t reconsider his optimism, at least nobody should cheer on.
A Malaysian investor has forwarded a proposal to the Government to upgrade Nakivubo War Memorial stadium into a modern 35,000 all-seater facility. State sports minister Charles Bakabulindi sounds upbeat about the proposal. If he can’t reconsider his optimism, at least nobody should cheer on.
The city centre is in a mess; everyone wishes they could avoid going there for shopping or to catch a bus or taxi. The area is choking with human and vehicular traffic congestion along the narrow streets, which are dotted with vendors. Nakivubo Stadium and Owino Market are located right in the middle of this chaos. Sending more cars and people to that messy area for sports should be the last thing to happen.
Even if the new stadium was to have an underground car park, one would take almost a whole day to reach the parking lots owing to traffic hold-ups on all entry roads. Even those who are not sports fans would be inconvenienced.
Instead of reconstructing it, the stadium should be relocated to the suburbs together with other public utilities. The taxi and bus parks were to be moved out of the city centre but politicians overturned this brilliant idea. Even the promised modern bus terminal turned out to be ordinary shops that only squeezed the bus park further, making life for a traveller hell.
Consequently, the time passengers spend in a full bus waiting to get out of the city is more than the time they spend waiting for it to fill. But policy makers do not feel the heat because they do not use public means.
A law for administration of Kampala is coming to coordinate planned development. This should include decongesting the city by relocating public service vehicles and sports fields to the outskirts. Nakivubo Stadium land is more suitable for shops. Sports fans should go to Namboole and other stadiums that may be built outside the city.
The city centre is in a mess; everyone wishes they could avoid going there for shopping or to catch a bus or taxi. The area is choking with human and vehicular traffic congestion along the narrow streets, which are dotted with vendors. Nakivubo Stadium and Owino Market are located right in the middle of this chaos. Sending more cars and people to that messy area for sports should be the last thing to happen.
Even if the new stadium was to have an underground car park, one would take almost a whole day to reach the parking lots owing to traffic hold-ups on all entry roads. Even those who are not sports fans would be inconvenienced.
Instead of reconstructing it, the stadium should be relocated to the suburbs together with other public utilities. The taxi and bus parks were to be moved out of the city centre but politicians overturned this brilliant idea. Even the promised modern bus terminal turned out to be ordinary shops that only squeezed the bus park further, making life for a traveller hell.
Consequently, the time passengers spend in a full bus waiting to get out of the city is more than the time they spend waiting for it to fill. But policy makers do not feel the heat because they do not use public means.
A law for administration of Kampala is coming to coordinate planned development. This should include decongesting the city by relocating public service vehicles and sports fields to the outskirts. Nakivubo Stadium land is more suitable for shops. Sports fans should go to Namboole and other stadiums that may be built outside the city.