Loadshedding frustrates Wakiso fuel terminal construction

Ugandans

hopes of affordable fuel prices will have to wait longer as persistent load

shedding affects the progress of a fuel storage terminal at Bugiri-Bukasa in

Wakiso district.

The

construction of the terminal along Entebbe road that started last year has

stalled because of unreliable power supply. President Yoweri Museveni launched

the construction of the terminal off Kawuku in June 2017.

Investor,

Ravi Shankar for Mahathi Infra Uganda Limited is frustrated by the recent load

shedding in areas of Kawuku where they are constructing the fuel store.

Unreliable

electricity supply has made the task of building the fuel store along Lake

Victoria in Kawuku very difficult. The store is to stand on 50 acres of land.

Shankar,

who is the managing director, says the heavy construction requires steady

supply of electricity but this has not been available.

To try and

keep to construction schedule, the company has been forced to hire generators.

Shankar explains, "These generators produce a lot of noise on top of

consuming too much fuel on a daily, and we work for twelve hours a day.”

This is not

the only challenge, the project has run into since it started. Shankar says,

the road from Kawuku off Entebbe road into Bugiri-Bukasa is in poor condition.

The road is narrow, full of potholes and uneven yet they need to transport

heavy machinery. They have sometimes ended up driving through residents'

compounds.

Captain

Mike Mukula, the board chair Mahathi Infra Uganda Limited, says they have been

working under many challenges to complete the project on time.

The comments

were made during a tour bya delegation from Kenya and Rwanda to first track its

progress since it benefits all countries on the northern corridor route.

Mahathi

Infra Uganda Limited (MIUL) was contracted to build the ships at Bugiri-Bukasa

and this will transport fuel from Kisumu through Lake Victoria to Bukasa and

its here that fuel will be distributed to all parts of the country. The

facility will have tanks that will store fuel.

At the

launch, Mr Museveni said water transport is the cheapest means of transport,

followed by rail transport, road and air transport. “On land, we are working on

the rail… We are also building dams to make the cost of electricity affordable,

which will attract more investors,” he added.

The

terminal is supposed to be operational June 2019.