On going work along Ggaba road
As we end the year 2023, Kampala Capital City Executive Director Dorothy Kisaka has highlighted the challenges that have hindered the city from achieving its targeted objective of becoming a smart city.
She noted among the challenges the poor drainage system that cause the flooding of the city whenever it rains a vice that have been worsened by encroachers on the wetlands and drainage channels and also the poor garbage disposal by the people who work and live in the city.
However, she said that there are solutions in place and such challenges will be solved because the president already directed that all encroachers on the wetlands and drainage channels must be removed and KCCA is mandated to enforce the presidential directive and with effect from January,2024 the Authority will be applying force were the need be.
While addressing reporters at her office she said that the procurement process has already commenced to purchase high technology dust bins that will be installed in different parties of the city. Besides that, government has already gotten an investor who has started investing in the Waste to Energy through re-cycling to add value to the waste and this will commence in January 2024.
The Executive Director also said that in 2024 the institution will focus of building the smart city through use of high level technology, infrastructure development as well as the wellbeing of the people of Kampala.
“ Portholes in the roads of Kampala will be no more in 2024 because government has allocated good funds for KCCA to refurbish these roads and a total of over 40 roads (90km) will be worked on within the next 36 months.’’ Mrs Kisaka said.
She further said that some work is ongoing on some roads for instance the Port bell, and Ggaba roads. Others whose construction is yet to commence very soon are Sir Appolo Kaggwa, 3rd, 6th , 7th and 8th streets will start in January this 2024.
In a bid also to improve traffic jam, KCCA will overhaul 27 junctions and replace them with traffic lights starting with Mulago and Rwenzori courts round bouts. The building that will host the control tour for the traffics lights is under construction with use of UGX 64 billion grant from government of Japan.
Meanwhile, Kisaka also boosted of some achievement in the year where, KCCA having a better innovation technology on urban sanitation which even worn three awards two from China and one from Rwanda through the ‘Weyonje’ program and this technology has helped to create 15,000 jobs as well as helping to prevent the occurrence of the cholera pandemic at least in the past 2 to 3 years in the city.
She also said that the Parish Development Model moved on well in the five divisions where UG 9.2 billion that were allocated to Kampala were successfully disbursed to the beneficiaries through their respective SACCOs.
As the city is preparing to host the Non- Aligned Movement(NAM) and G77 and China summits, Mrs Kisaka argued all landlord in the city to ensure that their building are clean, painted well and their frontiers and paved.
By George Bukenya