Senior Reporter
The Roads Committee of Kisoro District has given its approval to the district and municipal work plans for the upcoming financial year 2023/24. Like other districts in Uganda, Kisoro district has been allocated one billion shillings from the road fund to improve and maintain the road infrastructure within the district.
According to the Kisoro district authorities, the government has already provided 500 million shillings for the first two quarters, with the remaining half scheduled to be released in the third and fourth quarters of the fiscal year. It was emphasized that the authority to use these road funds lies with the district road fund.
The Kisoro District Roads Committee is comprised of Members of Parliament, the district Chairman, Chief Administrative Officer, Engineer, Municipality Mayor, and Town Clerk. The committee is chaired by Hon. Dr. James Nsaba Buturo, the Member of Parliament for Bufumbira East.
In the absence of the committee’s chairperson, Hon. Dr. James Nsaba Buturo, today’s closed-door meeting was led by Hon. Eng Niyonsaba Alex, also known as Seruganda, the Member of Parliament for Bufumbira South. Hon. Seruganda announced that the committee has agreed to commence road construction and maintenance starting next month to ensure the timely use of the allocated funds.
He mentioned that the committee has given its approval to all work plans, with a focus on both municipal and district roads for the upcoming fiscal year. Their top priority will be on roads in areas less susceptible to waterlogging to mitigate the negative effects of the ongoing rains. He commended the government for approving an additional one billion shillings for the road fund, highlighting its positive impact on the historically underfunded roads sector in the district.
However, Hon. Seruganda expressed concerns about Kisoro municipality and raised worries about its ability to efficiently and promptly complete its road projects due to a shortage of road equipment machinery. To address this issue, the committee has granted permission for Kisoro municipality to either borrow machinery from regional works headquarters or hire the necessary equipment for their tasks.
