UNRA to Spend UGX 4 Trillion in 2019/2020 Financial Year

  The Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) has been allocated 4.3 trillion shillings in the financial year 2019/2020.     

This is an increment by one trillion shillings from the 3.1 trillion shillings that was allocated to UNRA in the current financial year.  

The one trillion shilling increment is attributed to the allocation of funds for national road maintenance, commencing construction of 518 km of roads, constructing 58 bridges, acquire 1,217 hectares for right of way in 2019/2020.  

UNRA has also been allocated 312. 5 billion shillings for national road maintenance which was not allocated any funds in the 2018/2019 budget.

 

 Meanwhile, improvement of ferry services will get 30 billion shillings up from the 16.5 billion shillings allocated in 2018/2019.

388 billion shillings up from 1.5 billion in the current financial year has been earmarked for commencing construction of the 95 km Kampala- Jinja Expressway among other key priority projects.

Apart from Kampala-Jinja Expressway, construction will also commence for the Luwero-Butalangu road (29km), Rwenkunye-Apac-Acholibur (191 km), Migera-Kafu (20km) and Muyembe-Nakapiripirit road (92km).  

However, the biggest chunk of the one trillion shilling increment will be earmarked for land acquisition which has been allocated 412 billion shillings up from the 249 billion shillings allocated in the current financial year.  

 

The acting Executive Director for UNRA, Mary Kuteesa told the physical infrastructure committee on Thursday that some projects have stalled due to lack of funds to compensate project affected persons.      

She says the land acquisition budget has not increased over the past four years, and yet demands for land to build roads such as tourism and oil roads increase every other year.      

For instance, UNRA was allocated 246 billion shillings for land acquisition in the 2018/2019, Kuteesa says the entire amount was spent within the first six months of the 2018/2019 financial year and yet there are still many project affected persons waiting for compensation.      

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UNRA records show that there are 10,841 project affected persons along 6 oil roads which are either for design, under construction or being upgraded. These roads are Masindi (Kisanja)-Park Junction and Tangi (Pakwach Junction-Paraa-Buliisa and Wanseko-Bugungu, Hoima-Butiaba-Wanseko Road, Buhimba-Nalweyo-Bulamagi and Bulamagi-Igagyaza-Kakumiro and Lusalira-Nkonge –Lumegere-Ssembabule roads.

However, to date, 56.8 percent of the project affected persons have been compensated.  

Also, out of the 2,774 project affected persons, 66.4 percent have been compensated from the Masindi-Biiso, Kabaale-Kizirafumbi and Hohwa-Nyairongo-Kyaruseha oil roads. 

The Committee chairperson, Robert Kafeero Ssekitoleko, however, faulted UNRA over low absorption of funds and yet it has been receiving over 50 percent of the funds allocated to the ministry of works and transport budget.

//Cue in: “However as a…    Cue out…a committee chairperson.”//     Ssekitoleko tasked Kuteesa to submit a list of all national roads and must indicate whether they have secured financing or not.   

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The committee has however also commended UNRA for some of its achievements in implementing activities in the 2018/2019 budget, particularly the commissioning the New Jinja Bridge and ensuring that the contractor rectifies the problems identified by the committee.