Vision donates sh3.5m to Police

By Geoffrey Kamali THE New Vision yesterday handed over its contribution of sh3.5m to the Uganda Police Force’s on-going highway patrol vehicle fundraising drive.The cheque was handed over to the Police chief, Maj. Gen. Katumba Wamala, by the managing director, William Pike, at the Police headquarters in Kibuli.Katumba said he was grateful to the companies that had responded to his call and said a new specialised patrol pick-up truck had been acquired for the purpose.“We are having a hand-over ceremony on Tuesday. All those who contributed to it have been invited,” he said.Katumba said he had decided to take his campaign to Members of Parliament. He said he hoped with an estimated sh60m, he would have to add a little more to purchase two more new patrol vehicles.The New Vision’s corporation secretary, Robert Kabushenga who is also the campaign co-ordinator, was present. Katumba received another cheque worth sh1.8m from Elvis Wavamunno, the managing director of Club Silk, located next to The New Vision offices.Katumba said his next assignment would be to call on proprietors of factories, petrol stations, major buildings and other structures in the city to set up fire fighting devices in their premises.“We think for instance, that each of these should have some minimum capacity to deal with a fire, before we (the fire brigade) come in,” he said. Katumba said the risk of serious fire outbreaks kept increasing as more factories and petrol stations were being rapidly established in the city. He said the fire department would not be able to handle the situation if three fires broke out at the same time. “The more the industries, the more the risk of fires. So the thinking that fire brigade will come out to stop such challenges is really unrealistic,” Katumba said.