Transport ministry seeks Shs 21 billion for road safety
The state minister for Works, Francis Musa Ecweru, has said the ministry requires additional funding of Shs 21.5 billion to implement road safety programmes and activities.
Ecweru was presenting a statement on the status of the road safety situation in Uganda during plenary sitting on Thursday.
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He said that the additional funding will go towards strengthening of road safety management and regulation of public transport and stepping up road safety education and awareness, as well as implementation of the National Road Safety Plan.
According to Ecweru, currently, approximately Shs 600 million is appropriated for road safety activities, and this is further affected by budget cuts.
"Whenever there are budget cuts, some of this allocation which is not spent on infrastructure is reduced since it is considered as a consumptive expenditure," Ecweru said.
He noted that road safety financing is still a major challenge and yet there is a growing need for appropriation of more resources on road safety.
The minister said that the government is also engaging a service provider for mandatory motor vehicle inspection services, on resumption of services which were halted after a long spell of no enforcement compliance.
"The Highway Code is being reviewed and updated by the ministry. The code provides information, advice, guidance and mandatory rules for road users with the objective of promoting safety," Ecweru said.
He blamed the high number of accidents on over speeding, reckless driving, careless pedestrians and driving under the influence of alcohol, among others.
Kilak South County MP, Gilbert Olanya, however, said that the minister’s statement fell short of providing immediate interventions.
"When you look at most of the roads, for example Gulu Highway, there are potholes in the middle of the road and these cause accidents. We need immediate intervention to control road accidents,” said Olanya.
Nakawa Division West MP, Joel Ssenyonyi advised the government to consistently enforce traffic rules and regulations for improved road safety.
"Government should deal with inconsistency. Once we are not consistent with certain things, people get used to it. Government executed seat belts requirement for a certain period and abandoned it, same goes for speed governors. We need to get to that place where people know that we are serious about certain things," Ssenyonyi said.
The Deputy Speaker, Thomas Tayebwa, guided that the debate on road safety is broad, and referred it to the Committee of Physical Infrastructure.
