Museveni commissions multi-billion projects in Rwenzori sub-region

Museveni commissions multi-billion projects in Rwenzori sub-region

President Yoweri Museveni on Tuesday commissioned the 58km Ishaka-Katunguru road.

The sh118b rehabilitated road was fully funded by the government of Uganda under the Uganda National Development and Maintenance Programme.

The road, situated in western Uganda, connects Bushenyi to Kasese district and runs from Ishaka municipality through Rubirizi district to Katunguru town at Kazinga Channel in Kasese district.

It will be a major tourism booster as it provides a link to Queen Elizabeth National Park, a tourist attraction in the southern part of the country.

In his remarks during the commissioning ceremony at Katunguru Seed Primary School, Museveni advised the Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) to utilise the country's natural resources such as rocks to make better upgraded infrastructure.

"UNRA people are complaining that the soil in this area is soft and makes it hard to construct roads. I encourage you to get stones in Karuma, which you can add to harden these roads because they belong to the Government," he said.

The rehabilitation of this road was intended to improve the condition of the existing highway to foster socioeconomic integration between Mbarara, Bushenyi, Rubirizi and Kasese districts with the rest of the country through facilitating the movement of people and goods.

It is also aimed at improving the quality of the national road network and connectivity to tourism sites within the country and the neighbouring states.

The road works commenced in October 2017 and by the end of October, it was at 99.52%.

Works on the 2.67km access road to West Ankole Diocese were undertaken in addition to the main project and are in progress.

Commenting on the Rukungiri- Kihihi-Ishasha/ Kanungu road (78.5km) that the President visited while in Rukungiri district, Museveni directed UNRA to consider tarmacking it.

The Minister of Works and Transport, Gen. Katumba Wamala, thanked the President and the Government for bringing about socio-economic transformation in the district through infrastructure development.

He thanked the local leaders for being supportive during the implementation of the project and appealed to them to see to it that the road is well-maintained, especially in the urban centres.

The UNRA executive director, Allen Kagina, said with the rehabilitation of the road, it would now take 30 minutes for transporters to use it as opposed to three years ago when it took two hours from Ishaka to Katunguru.

On the Rukungiri-Kihihi- Ishasha/Kanungu road, Kagina said the progress of the project is at 31.2%. She said the contractor is undertaking earthworks at Bagahwe and that all the equipment and personnel to execute the works is on course for completion by June 2021.

Rubirizi district chairperson John Mubangizi appreciated President Museveni and the Government for sending road equipment to help make better roads for the district.

Mubangizi hailed the President for encouraging and always reminding the people to shift from subsistence to modernised farming.

Sh16b modern market

Later, Museveni also commissioned the sh16b Kasese Central Modern Market in Kasese municipality. It is one of the markets built under the Markets and Agricultural Trade Improvement Programme (MATIP-1) - a multi-million dollar project supported by the government and the African Development Bank.

The market will accommodate about 800 vendors and house food stalls, restaurants, banks, clinics, salons, fruit and vegetable stands, butch shops and a day care centre. It consists of 467 stalls and 311 lock-up shops.