President Museveni, speaking to NRM leaders at Watoto Church open grounds in Gulu City on Monday, said he believes that if more money is added onto the Shs 168Bn for road contruction that all districts currently get, they would at least be in better position to look after roads in the jurisdiction.
Museveni made these statements while on his ‘scientific’ campaign trail where he addressed a group of NRM leaders in Gulu City.
Museveni mentioned that he has convinced cabinet to avail an extra Shs 146Bn to be given to districts throughout the country for road construction.
“Shs. 168 billion means each district gets more than one billion shillings. We are now adding more money. When I went back, I told them (cabinet) to add another Shs 146Bn, “Museveni said.
Museveni explained that he was amused by the well-graded, compacted and well-drained but motorable murram road while he went to open the Atiak Sugar Factory in Amuru District on a rainy day recently.
He explained that using equipment distributed to every district a few years ago, this should be the standard of all murram roads in all districts throughout the country to ease transport.
“I demanded from engineers how much it costs to grade, compact and drain properly a kilometer of murram road. This is in terms of fuel because all districts now have the equipment. The only issue is the fuel. We are going to solve this and this calculation will guide us in allocating money to the districts,” he said.
By adding another Shs 146Bn, districts will be sharing Shs 314Bn to help them in road construction.
Several feeder roads, especially in upcountry areas are in a sorry state despite districts getting equipment to maintain them.
According to Museveni, by increasing the funding to districts, the number of motorable murram roads will also increase.
