The Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) plans to start an upgrade project for over 20km of road network in Mbarara municipality; the main municipal, administrative, and commercial center of Mbarara District in western Uganda, by the beginning of September this year.
The over US $10m project which is wholly funded by the national government of Uganda will be implemented by a Chinese construction and engineering company called Chongqing International Construction Corporation (CICO) in 18 months’ time.
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About the Project
The project comprises of widening the earmarked roads in the city and upgrading them to bituminous standards.
The 20.2km road network, according to the area Member of Parliament (MP) Hon Michael Tusiime, once complete it will add to the existing 20km that was done under the Urban Support Municipal Infrastructure Development (USMID) to make up a 40 km network.
He however said that this is just a small fraction of work, since a workload of approximately 524km out of a total of the entire 564km of roads in the municipality remains pending.
Other infrastructural challenges
Mayor Robert Mugabi Kakyebezi said that bridges still remains a challenge that needs to be addressed especially Kanyeite Bridge which links Nyakaizi cell in Kakoba division to Karugangama cell in Katete Nyamitanga division. He emphasized that the bridge is used by over three thousand pedestrians and motorcyclists on a daily basis and for that reason it needs immediate attention.
The other bridge which also has heavy traffic is Lugazi Bridge. Â It connects Lugazi cell in Kakoba division to Katete-Kampala trading center in Katete Nyamitanga division.
MP Tusiime encouraged the responsible local leaders to bring up issues similar to the one reported by Mayor Kakyebezi in the attention of their respective councils for considerations before they worsen.
