Busia Municipality officials have assured the World Bank that road infrastructure projects being undertaken in the local government will be completed by mid this year.
Deputy Town Clerk, Johnson Wafuba, said that the new taxi park, and a total of 2.39Km of roads within the municipality have since been upgraded to tarmac, boosting trade and commerce.
“We are on track to meet all deadlines that have been issued to us as of last year. The final touches on upgrading of the taxi park and 5 other roads which require marking and metal furniture are on course,” Wafuba stated.
A World Bank team is conducting on-spot assessment of civil works across five local governments in eastern Uganda, including Tororo, Mbale, Lugazi, Kamuli and Moroto municipalities.
Part of the requisite verification pillar is reviewing the work plans, budgets, releases, utilization of funds and potential risks towards program closure on June 30, 2024.
Stephen Ajalu, a Senior Urban Specialist with the World Bank, is leading the team that comprises technical officials from the USMID Secretariat, who are overseeing the multi billion shillings projects.
“We are seeing most of the local governments that are implementing projects under this (USMID) program, working hard to finalise their projects. We expect that by June 30, all projects should be completed,” Ajalu, the World Bank Team leader stated.
At least 10 new regional cities, 22 municipalities and 11 refugee host districts have been the direct beneficiaries of the 1.4 Trillion shillings USMID program that has been operating since 2013.
Isaac Mutenyu, the Head of the Uganda Support to Municipal Infrastructure Projects, encouraged the local authorities to complete the road works as per the contract terms and on the current timeframe.
“These roads and taxi park are meant to have all the furniture including man holes that must be covered properly for the safety of people as well as protecting against storm water. We want to have these projects commissioned and handed over to the public officially,” Mutenyu said.
Under the program, Busia Municipality has undertaken 5 roads including Wanyama Bonny (0.279km), Ekaka (0.65km), Obernester (0.157km), Market Square (0.176km) and Busia SS road (0.7km).
