President Museveni has insisted that the UPDF will continue taking up local construction projects by government despite opposition by some sections of the public.
Speaking during his visit to the Kiira Motors Corporation vehicle plant in Jinja, the president said government will greatly benefit by contracting the army to take up its construction projects, unlike private contractors.
“For some reasons, NEC is cheaper unlike private companies that want to make profits but also use borrowed money,”Museveni said.
“Ntare high school was built by the Ministry of Works but it is still around. This is something we are sorting out and I thank the UPDF for responding to my call. I am determined to see the UPDF construction brigade which can turn into a construction company continue doing most of government work.”
The National Enterprises Corporation(NEC) which is the business arm of the UPDF is in charge of construction works for the Kiira motors vehicle plant in Jinja.
Speaking at the function, the NEC Managing Director, Lt Gen James Mugira applauded the president for entrusting them with several construction works in the country that he said they will pull off.
“Many voices were raised when we took the project(Kiira vehicle plant) and many predicted failure of the project. We are determined to prove them wrong because we have the capacity, determination and reason to do so,” Mugira said.
“For long, projects of such a magnitude have been executed by foreign countries despite NEC and the engineering brigade having the capacity to do so. We bring on board efficiency and military discipline while executing projects.”
President Museveni recently directed that all new government school and hospital projects should be handled by the UPDF Engineering Brigade starting the 2021/ 2022 financial year.
According to the president, if the pilot is successful, the directive will at a later stage, be expanded to cover other sectors in government.
State Minister for Privatization and Investment, Evelyn Anite recently said government will give all local construction projects to the UPDF Engineering Brigade.
She said the UPDF is competent, does work in time, disciplined but above all, government saves money by using them.
Recently, UNRA signed an agreement with the UPDF Engineering Brigade to handle the construction of a number of road projects in the country.
The UPDF Engineering Brigade has in the past been involved in the construction of several facilities in the country including the Namugongo martyrs shrine, Mbuya military referral hospital, Kololo independence grounds and housing units in various army barracks throughout the country.
The brigade also constructed the UPDF Mubende hospital that provides artificial limbs to soldiers who lose limbs during war as well as the new shs7.9 billion state of the art facilities at the National Institute of Leadership (NALI) at Kyankwanzi in Kyankwanzi district.
