Firms Bid For Rukungiri Road

By Yunusu Abbey THREE international companies have tendered for the construction of the Ntungamo-Rukungiri road, currently in a dilapidated state. John Nasasira, the works, housing and communications minister (above), said bidders were Energo Projekt which pledged to tarmac the road at about sh9b, Stirling International quoted about sh11b while Strasbag from Germany offered sh12b. Nasasira told The New Vision the bids were opened at the Central Tender Board offices in Kampala yesterday. He said the work would be done in phases while evaluation would take two to three weeks. "The first phase to be funded by the Government will cover Ntungamo-Kagama road, which is about 54km. Work is expected to last nine to 10 months. The Government plans to tarmac the whole road up to Ishasa," he said. "The fact that bids for the road have been opened shows how serious the Government was about tarmacking and providing better roads," Nasasira said. He said a British firm, Roughton and Partners, would be the project consultants while the European Union would finance the next phase of the project. The people of Rukungiri had complained about the Government's failure to tarmac the road, but Nasasira blamed the delay on lack of funds. Ends