Kampala — THE United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has given sh840m to complete the new Gulu district administration block. Some of the money will be used to rehabilitate the office of the resident district commissioner.

According to Willett Amanda, Northern Uganda Transition Initiative (NUTI) the Chief of Party, sh440m (about $220,000) had been given to Gulu to complete the district administration block.

NUTI is the organisation through which USAID implemented the project.

"Gulu is the gateway to northern Uganda and should have strong administration for economic growth," Amanda said on Tuesday.

"We expect work to begin next month and before the next financial year, we should be able to move into the new headquarters," Gulu district chairman Nobert Mao, said.

The block stalled in 2002 due to lack of funds. Mao, however, expressed concern over the failure by international development partners to announce concrete plans to support the Peace Recovery and Development Plan.

He said if the international partners continued doing businesses as usual, they would have betrayed their commitment to the people of northern Uganda.