Kampala — THE Teso communities of Katakwi and Amuria have petitioned the Office of the Prime Minister over the shoddy road works done in the area.

The petition was centered on the roads constructed under the Emergency Repair of Roads Programme, where the Government released sh1b to the Ministry of Works and Transport for repair of damaged roads after the floods in 2007.

The funds disbursed were for the repair of the Magoro-Ngariam road, Toroma-Magoro road in Katakwi district, Okude-Orungo-Morungatuny road and the Orungo-Amuria road in Amuria district.

The petitioners, under the Church of Uganda's Teso Diocese Development and Planning Organisation said the contractor, Mukalazi Technical Services, did not carry out the task as expected.

The project kicked off in July 2008 and was to end within five months,but it did not, they said.

The matter was raised on August 6, in a meeting attended by officials from the ministry, the Uganda Debt Network and the church, in which all the groups agreed on the findings but no corrective action was taken.

Speaking at a joint press conference with the Uganda Debt Network at Pope Paul Memorial Centre in Kampala recently, Francis Otude, one of the monitors, said the works done were substandard.

"We monitored the roads and found that they were built in a shoddy manner. The contract had also taken longer than expected," he said.

Edward Kakonge, the debt network board chairperson, said according to reports, there were anomalies in the way the contract was awarded.