KCCA has defended the cost of constructing Kampala roads being higher than others saying traffic jam in the city has seen contractors spend more time transporting materials to site, yet the cost of these materials is higher than in the upcountry cities.
"When you come to urban roads in Kampala you have traffic management costs, those are unseen costs. For Kampala roads, we emphasize they must be night working so that we minimize disruption of economic activities, that means we need to have night working infrastructure. The land values in Kampala, if you are going to purchase murram, you can't compare the land value in Kampala with Soroti," Eng. David Luyimbazi, the KCCA Deputy Executive Director told parliament on Tuesday.
Luyimbazi was on Tuesday facing parliament's physical infrastructure committee whose members asked to know why the average cost of road construction in the city is at shs10 billion, four times higher than the cost in others cities like Soroti whose average cost per kilometre is about shs2.3 billion.
The deputy KCCA Executive Director admitted the cost of constructing a kilometre in Kampala is high but attributed it to a number of factors that he said are beyond their control.
"The price of gravel is much higher, to get a rock, you need to go much higher, everywhere there is traffic jam, if you are getting on site you take much longer, in traffic, there is no traffic. So, these are variables that a layman may not see but a contractor must anticipate in his costing,"
Kampala Lord Mayor, Erias Lukwago early this year raised alarm over what he termed as the inflated cost of constructing roads in Kampala.
"For the 31 African Development Bank funded roads lined up for construction this year, they constitute 69km at a cost of shs1 trillion which translates to each kilometer being constructed at a whooping shs14.4billion. What baffles us are the large quantities of bills and inflated unit costs," Lukwago said.
"This is ridiculous a cost for the construction of these road. It is outrageous. These costs are obscenely inflated. Imagine if a kilometer is to cost shs14.4billion and you have 2110km of roads in the entire Kampala, how are we going to construct all of them? It means during our lifetime, we shall never finish constructing the roads in Kampala."
The Kampala Lord Mayor said no amount of explanation can justify the inflated cost of the roads that he said is rather a scheme by some individuals to siphon the taxpayer's money.
"There has been attempt to justify this huge cost but it stinks..... that there are traffic junctions and streets light but we have done comparative study in the East African region and entire sub Saharan region and we have the highest cost defeating even those areas where the terrain is difficult to navigate. We are not constructing in mountainous areas like Kisoro that we have to navigate around those terrains. What explains this inflated cost?"
Blames mafia
The emotional Lukwago explained that he knows of cartels and mafia whom he said are in both the central government and at KCCA that plan the schemes to inflate the costs of the constructions for their own benefit.
"There is a cartel involving proxies of the regime and functionaries within the system at KCCA We have been fighting this cartel for quite a long time. They are within the central government, here within the institution (KCCA) and outside the institution. This money is given with one hands and taken away with another."
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
Responding to Lukwago's assertions, Kampala Minister, Kabuye Kyofatogabye blasted the Lord Mayor for not being informed about developments in the city .
"In his characteristic ill-informed but sensational manner, the Lord Mayor told lies and I am here to debunk his falsehoods and restore hope to our city and country away from his pessimistic naysaying and if he pleases, to invite him to always do more consultation on issues before making a farce of himself before all and sundry," Kyofatogabye said.
"All these things are before the Lord Mayor but his narrow mindedness and understanding of projects and components, you cant ramp up everything and say a kilometer is going to take shs14.4 billion by dividing the entire project cost and failing to itemize. If the Lord Mayor wanted to misguide the people of Kampala, he should have done so with facts that thinking you will confuse everyone.
