Gulu City Earmarks UGX 50m to Repair Broken Solar Street Lights

Gulu City Council has set aside 50 million shillings for repairing the dozens of broken solar street lights.

The broken lights are part of the 450 solar street lights installed under the 3.2 billion shillings’ project under the Uganda Support to Municipal Infrastructure Development -USMID additional funding which started in November 2019. Installation of 50 more solar street lights is underway to make a total of 500 as per the project.

Balomi Christo, the Gulu City Engineer told URN in an interview that the 50 million Shillings for the repair of the solar street lights is part of the 1.5 billion shillings for maintenance work given by Uganda Roads Fund for financial year 2021/2022.

He says they will start with carrying out an inventory to ascertain the exact number of solar lights that have broken down before working out on a strategy of executing the task.

Gulu City Council is reportedly pondering whether to carryout out the repair works themselves or to assign a contractor since they are faced with challenges of equipment to carry out the work.

Christopher Lukwiya, the Gulu City Electrical Engineer says from the last inventory they carried out few months ago, they found that 70 solar street lights were vandalized by unknown people and that because they lack equipment like crane lifter, generator and welding plant, they have not been able to repair them.

Lukwiya disclosed that the streets with more broken down solar lights are Ring Road, Salvatore Road and Walter Opwonya Road, all in the town business center.

Earlier on, residents of Gulu City raised concerns over the broken solar street lights saying this is posing insecurity at night by aiding criminal activities.

Robert Okwonga, the L.C.I chairperson of Gowans Quarters in Bardege -Layibi Division revealed that criminals are taking advantage of the dark spots to waylay and rob their victims.

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