Kampala Potholes: KCCA lists 31 roads lined up for reconstruction starting February

 Kampala Capital City Authority has listed 31 roads in various parts of the city that are set to be reconstructed starting February next year.

According to the list released by KCCA, the roads are in the five divisions of Central, Kawempe, Lubaga, Nakawa and Makindye that make up Uganda’s capital.

KCCA spokesperson, Simon Kasyate explained that they received a $288m (Shs1 trillion) from the African Development Bank (ADB)and the African Development Fund to implement  the road rehabilitation activities in the City under the Kampala City Roads Rehabilitation Project (KCRRP).

“This project is aimed at increasing the stock and quality of the City’s strategic infrastructure to accelerate Uganda’s competitiveness. This is against the background that Kampala requires significant infrastructural investments to shore up its productivity and ease of doing business,” Kasyate said.

According to Kasyate, the fifth(0.8km), sixth(1.95km), seventh(1.86km), and eight(2.73km) streets in Industrial Area are among the 31 roads lined up for reconstruction after a contract was signed with China Railway 18th Bureau Group Co. Ltd.

The 8.5km Salaama road in Makindye division is also part of the 31 roads lined up for reconstruction starting February.

He explained that the reconstruction project has divided the roads  into five lots with all, but lot four having concluded the procurement and  deployment of the contractor on sites shall be by end year.

However, despite the reconstruction , other roads will continue being in the dire state but the KCCA spokesperson explained that due to limited funds, they had to prioritise.

“If you have problems worth shs 10million and  you get shs4 million, reasonably you will prioritise  as you wait for balance of shs6 million and hope you don’t get more problems needing more money.  What is of essence is at least KCCA went into rehabilitating some roads because  could have diverted the money to schools or health centers which are also in dire need,” Kasyate said.

The problem

Of late, there have been concerns by several members of the public in regards the state of roads in Uganda’s capital.

Most of the roads in Kampala are riddled with potholes which are a menace in terms of causing traffic congestion but also damaging vehicles.

According to Kasyate, Kampala has a road network of 2,110km out of which only 30% translating into 668km is paved and the remaining 1,442km is unpaved.

“Of the paved network, 360km in Kampala are over 35 years old and have been patched and repaired too many times.”

Quoting experts, Kasyate said that, on average, a good paved road is expected to last 15 - 20 years before reconstruction.

According to KCCA, the poor waste disposal practices over strain the roads as Kampala  residents throw polythene and organic food into drainages, and they get blocked which ensures water flows in the middle of the roads leading to potholes and washing away of some parts of the roads.

The small drainage channels have also been blamed for the problem of poor roads network since they are not wide enough to carry large volumes of rain water whereas construction in wetlands has also ruined waterways.

Not enough funds

The KCCA spokesperson said they are limited on funds to work on the roads, a factor he says has exacerbated the situation in the country’s capital.

“KCCA currently receives only shs26 billion per year to maintain the roads. The increased car load on our roads is significant increasing the wear and tear. The KCCA annual consumptive budget cannot build the infrastructure. The focused strategic approach to overhauling the city old roads in a phased approach and a quarterly release for maintaining those that can't be overhauled is the solution,”Kasyate said.

He said that reconstruction, overhauling and upgrading needs to be done in phases but was quick to note that the  strategy of overhauling at least 50km every year would require approximately shs375  billion  per year to be able to redeem the dead roads.

“That way, we can be sure that in seven years, the old roads will be done away with.  An average of shs100 billion per year to maintain the roads in a motorable condition is what we estimate. This includes management of street lights, traffic lights, road safety, and walkways.”