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Uganda: Does the Road Sector Deserve a Lion's Share of the Budget?
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New Vision (Kampala)
23 July 2008
Posted to the web 24 July 2008
Joshua Kato
Kampala
THERE have been mixed reactions since sh1.1trillion was allocated to the roads sector in the 2008/09 budget. Some people say the sector did not deserve that amount because it will be wasted after all.
However, transport minister John Nasasira is upbeat about the allocation; "There will be no more potholes by 2011," he declared.
The allocation followed President Yoweri Museveni's remarks a few weeks ago that there was rampant inflation of road repair costs in Uganda.
Uganda has a road network of 10,820km of national roads, 23,000km of district roads and over 30,000km of community roads. National roads connect one area of the country to another. For examples, Kampala-Jinja-Tororo-Busia, Kampala-Mbarara and Kampala-Hoima.
According to the Ministry of Works statistics, by 2005, only 1% of Uganda's roads were rated as very bad. However, because of the heavy rains between 2005 and 2007, the figure has risen. At the moment, 40% of the roads are good, 20-25% fair, while 35% are poor. According to the Road Agency Formation Unit (RAFU) website, a good road is one that has no potholes. Fair roads have occasional potholes, while bad ones are full of potholes.
Expensive venture
Road construction ranks among the most expensive ventures. For example, it costs between $550,000 to $850,000 to tarmack kilometre of road on a highway and about around $250,000 for a kilometre of road in urban areas. For instance, every kilometre of the 123km Dokolo-Lira Road is being constructed at $792,000 (sh1.1b), while Soroti-Dokolo will be constructed at $644,000 (sh900m).
With these figures, the sh1.2trillion allocation can only work on about 300km of roads. This, according to analysts, is the reason why Ugandans should not be so excited about the allocation.
According to Nasasira, less than 50% of the money needed to maintain roads had been allocated to his ministry over the past years. For years now, a road fund to maintain the constructed roads has been mooted. According to Nasasira, the fund would help lengthen the lifespan of the roads. In the 2008/09 budget, sh240b was put up for the fund. There is also another sh35b to top it up. Ugandans only hope that this money is put to proper use.
There is also contention on whether the right materials are used during the construction. Recently, there were disagreements between RAFU and the contractors of the Northern Bypass over the materials used.
Some success
By 1986, less than 10% of the national roads were in a fair condition. For instance, it took one about 12 hours to travel from Kampala to Kasese, eight hours from Kampala to Mbarara, while Kampala-Karuma-Nebbi-Arua took days. Currently, Kampala to Mbarara takes three hours and four for Kampala to Kasese.
By 1990, 50% of the road network was in a fair condition. By 2003, 75% of these were fair. Today, 85% of the roads are in a fair condition.
In total 1,246km of national roads have been resealed, 609km have been upgraded from gravel to bitumen level, while 1,042km have been reconstructed or rehabilitated.
During the same period, the percentage of fairly motorable district roads has risen from less than 10% in 1986 to around 60%. In addition to construction of the roads, most key road junctions in the city improved. These include Kibuye, Busega, Wandegeya, Gayaza and Nakawa junctions.
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However, question remains: For how long will they last?
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