UNRA probe queries engineers on quality of roads

By Taddeo Bwambale             

The commission of inquiry into the Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) yesterday queried two directors at the institution over persistent complaints about the poor quality of roads.

The commission of inquiry set up by President Yoweri Museveni and chaired by Justice Catherine Bamugemereire is probing management challenges and fraud at the institution.

Eng James Okiror, UNRA’s director of operations who appeared before the commission yesterday was asked to explain why some roads commissioned by UNRA are in dire state.

Okiror rejected the claim insisting that all the programmes and roads commissioned by UNRA have been durable. He went ahead to rate the performance of UNRA as ‘quite excellent.’

When asked by Andrew Kasirye, the commission’s lead counsel to list the roads built by UNRA, he named Jinja-Bugiri, Bugiri-Malaba, Kawempe-Kafu, Karuma-Pakwach and Kabarole-Kasese.

  Justice Catherine Bamugemereire (Right), the Chairperson to the Commission of Inquiry into UNRA with board Members Abraham Nkata (center) and Richard Mungati (Left) during the hearing at Imperial Royale Hotel in Kampala on Wednesday. PHOTO/Godfrey Kimono.

Justice Bamugemereire put to him the complaints from some road users about the use of asphalt instead of surface dressing in constructing roads.

Eng Okiror said asphalt was ideal for heavy traffic roads since the material is more resistant and strong compared to surface dressing.

Bamugemereire said the commission had received complaints that asphalt reflects light onto road users and has been responsible for traffic accidents.

“The use of asphalt is not an issue. We have put in place road markings in the middle and on the sides to guide drivers,” Okiror responded.

Inadequate staffing

Eng Lawrence Pario, UNRA’s acting director for planning, who was the second witness for the day, said the core departments of the institution were understaffed.

Okiror, who has previously held the position of acting executive director, said the institution’s performance was being held back by inadequate staffing.

“When the authority was created, it was assumed that the number of staff would be fixed but over the years, the functions have continued to swell,” he told the probe team.

Okiror was asked to make a general assessment of the institution’s present challenges and he agreed that the procurement function had the most challenges.

In spite of having the largest share of the roads sector budget, Okiror said the institution was faced with inadequate funding for infrastructure projects.

“Every year, we have outstanding arrears because our budget is not adequate to meet high demand for services,” he said.

“We have designed over 1,000km of roads but there is a mismatch between planning and resource flow,” he stated.

Pario said compared to some of Uganda’s neighbours, the high cost of road works was because the country imports most of the materials, especially steel and bitumen.

Lengthy process

Pario told the commission that the procurement cycle takes about five years, from project inception to awarding contract, although he said it was possible to reduce it to two years.
 
He said the design and build model of road construction, which contractors are responsible for designing and later building roads was a faster way of reducing the high backlog.

According to Pario, out Uganda’s 21,000km of roads, UNRA has only tarmacked about 4,000km, leaving a high unmet need.
Asked about the slow progress on Jinja Nile Bridge, Pario explained that the process had been delayed by efforts to drill into hard rocks that will anchor its foundation.

The 22 metre-wide bridge is being specially engineered as an iconic feature, will cost $140m and is expected to be complete by April 2018.

Both engineers denied reports of political interference in UNRA’s work and rated UNRA’s performance highly.

Asked about the ideal qualities of an engineer in Uganda, Pario said one must be competent, a person of integrity and patriotic.