Parliament wants Speaker's chopper bought this year
As Parliament starts the process of scrutinising ministerial budgets this week, the parliamentary commission has indicated that it intends to resurrect the proposal to buy a chopper for the office of the speaker.
The proposal was first mooted last year but could not be implemented due to budgetary constraints.
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Chris Obore the director of communications at Parliament, said the continued hiring of both police and UPDF choppers by the office of the speaker has not only inconvenienced the speaker herself in fulfilling her duties but also the security forces.
Obore said given the fact that there are many constituencies today which the speaker and her deputy need to traverse to explain the importance of the legislature, a chopper for the office of the speaker is badly needed.
it is not clear how much parliament has budgeted for the chopper but according to website, www.reference.com, the basic personal helicopter is the Robinson R22.
When new, it costs about $150,000 (Shs 540 million).
However, it accommodates only two people, including the pilot. The Bell 407 which has a passenger capacity of six costs about $ 2.6 million (Shs 9.3 billion).
The same website says there are more expensive helicopters on the market such as the Agusta Westland AW101, which costs $21 million (Shs 75 billion).It can carry more than 10 passengers.
A chopper also comes with additional costs. For instance, the same website says the cost of running a helicopter starts anywhere from $300 (Shs 1 million) per hour, including fuel, maintenance and repair costs throughout the year.
