The rehabilitation of roads that were washed away by the floods last year has been hit by shortage of funds from the ministry of works and transport.
Works Minister Abraham Byandaala told Uganda Radio Network on Tuesday that the ministry dispatched a team of engineers who assessed the damage and found out that the ministry needs more than 90 billion shillings.
The minister, however, added that the work can’t be done as soon as possible due to lack of funds.
Engineer Byandaala says that some of roads need complete reconstruction and are spread in all parts of the country.
Minister Byandaala notes that the ministry has no option but to petition parliament through the ministry of finance for supplementary budget.
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Transporting crop produce and people in the areas of Karamoja, Western, Eastern and Central Eastern Uganda is difficult and small vehicles can’t access some areas in the regions.
The Lwampanga Sub County chairman in Nakasongola district, George William Lubega, says that government’s failure to fix the roads in time has led to increment in transport fares. He explains that transport from Lwampanga to Kampala which was initially 10,000 has now jumped to 15000 shillings.
Taxi fares from Moroto to Soroti have jumped from 17000 to 30,000 shillings whereas Moroto-Kampala fares increased from 50,000 to 70,000 shillings among others.
According to Vincent Nsubuga Musoke, a principal statistician at Uganda Bureau of Statistics, the poor road network has been one of the main drivers of headline inflation now standing at 27% and has also contributed to rising food prices because goods could not be transported to the markets.
