Leaders Decry state of feeder and district roads

A number of feeder and district roads in different parts of the country are still not in good shape, as they remain delapidated , despite government giving multi-billion road construction and maintenance equipment to districts only last year.

A dozen district leaders we talked to say most of the districts are ill-equipped to maximally utilize the equipment to maintain roads chiefly because the equipment was delivered without making the necessary increases in provisions for fuel, manpower and other requirements.

The districts are also yet to get all the equipment, more than seven months since they were purchased and cleared for delivery to the intended users.

President Museveni in June last year commissioned the road equipment worth more than Shs500 billion to be distributed to the 121 districts.

Leaders of some districts like Rubanda and Wakiso say the Works and Transport ministry should also address the uniqueness of their areas in determining what they should get instead of the current uniform process irrespective of terrain, size, population and other factors.

Kenneth Jogo Biryabarema, the Rubanda District chairperson, says the government should, for example, consider the hilly terrain of his district compared to neigbours such as Mbarara and Ntungamo.

For now, he says, the district still depends on the previous budget to run the new machines.

The leaders also say there is a challenge of fuel. The challenge of fuel aside, Kabarole District chairperson Richard Rwabuhinga says the budget should also be increased to enable the districts acquire murrum.