KCC, Translink Ltd strike taxi park deal

KAMPALA City Council (KCC) councillors have given Translink Uganda Limited a go-ahead to remodel the old taxi park on Ben Kiwanuka Street, reports Yunusu Abbey. The delayed project, expected to cost US$13m, had drawn strong protests from Uganda Taxi Operators and Drivers Association (UTODA) currently running the park and some KCC councillors. Sources said the councillors who met last week approved the project without any major debate, ending the dispute over Translink's development plan. "Nyombi Tembo, the council chairman of the works and finance committee, presided over the meeting. Even the mayor, John Ssebaana Kizito, who was previously opposed to the project and the town clerk, Mr. Gordon Mwesigye, attended the meeting," the source said. "It was agreed that Translink should go ahead with its proposal. The councillors also resolved that consultants should be invited to tender the project's consultancy work," added the source. However, the source said UTODA will continue running the park until the completion of the construction work when KCC and Translink will decide on its management. "contrary to UTODA fears, they are not going to be pushed out of the park as soon as Translink is awarded the deal," the source said. Translink Uganda Limited belongs to a Ugandan of Asian origin, Mukesh Thakrar, who submitted in the development proposal to KCC in 1998 but since then the project had been opposed by UTODA officials who thought the deal would deprive them of their lucrative business. Ends