|
|
Uganda: Nasasira Knows Why We Do Not Have a New Bridge
 |
 |
|||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||
|
||||||||||
The Monitor (Kampala)
OPINION
13 May 2008
Posted to the web 12 May 2008
Fredrick Masiga
Once again another embarrassing situation is looming for Uganda and when it happens the reality of having a completely divided country - and I mean literally - will be mentioned in the present tense.
Ten years ago, a consulting firm - Sir Alexander Gibb & Partners - officially notified the government that the 53-year old bridge on the River Nile in Jinja has less than ten years to go. It then recommended that plans for the construction of a new one upstream should be initiated immediately at a cost of $44 billion.
Eleven years later, apart from the bridge looking worse nothing else has changed and the country is on the brink of another bended knee experience after the electricity crisis that has rocked the country in the last few years due to poor planning and political bickering.
No plans for a new bridge. Finance Minister Dr Ezra Suruma and his predecessors have been preoccupied with "more important" businesses and Dr Suruma has only promised a Shs5 billion budget next financial year for "remedial measures" on the structure.
Well, now that sounds like applying cello tape on a compound fracture.The bridge should have been put out of use last year but as it is we continue to live dangerously with it.
What would happen if the bridge collapsed today? The country would literally be divided into two. To cross to the southern side - Kampala - one would need to travel via Karuma through Masindi. Now, put think of that in monetary terms for anyone or business that must make that journey once a week or more.
It goes without say that the bridge is the only viable and cheapest link between what is the rest of East Africa west of the River Nile with the Indian Ocean and beyond carrying all the cargo into the hinterland that goes beyond Jinja. Rwanda, the DRC and Southern Sudan all depend on the Jinja bridge to move their goods to and from the Port of Mombasa. But if that can be ignored then think about next repercussion.
The structural and hydrological planning of Bujagali Hydropower Project very much depended on the premise that the new 250 megawatt, run-of-the-river hydropower plant will re-use water flowing from two existing upstream facilities - Nalubale (Owen Falls) and Kiira dams.
Bujagali is supposed to be ready in 2011 the same year when the government will be seeking re-election and probable use the 'newly commissioned' dam as master card to campaign. But that might boomerang because if the bridge collapses the Bujagali project could be seriously affected dampening any hopes of elevating the energy crisis in the country.
The bridge has over the years become part and parcel of the eco-system within its location. At the construction of the bridge in 1954, the water level of Lake Victoria rose by a few inches and despite water levels falling in recent years, the absence of the bridge will significantly have serious environmental repercussions within the lake basin.
The government has been an onlooker since it received the Sir Alexander Gibb report eleven years ago but now Ugandans can understand why.
The answer come from the most likely source - Minister for Works John Nasasira, a long serving minister of the regime who must know better than anyone that Uganda could just be heading into an abyss if the bridge collapses today.
Quoted in the Daily Monitor Wednesday, May 7 as saying: "it is not that the bridge is collapsing tomorrow", Nasasira's attitude epitomised the complete lack of foresight by politicians and public servants who have characterised the technocracy and bureaucracy in Uganda's public offices.
|
No wonder roads in this country are the 'wash-and-wear' type because the leadership supposed to ensure they meet minimum standards does not believe Ugandans deserve the best or can always be served last with the worst.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Copyright © 2008 The Monitor. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections -- or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Make allAfrica.com your home page | RSS Feed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Top | Site Guide | Who We Are | Advertising | Search | Subscribe | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Questions or Comments? Contact us. Read our Privacy Statement. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
