An impassable road connecting Okuru-Omoro-Adwir sub county in Alebtong district that is meant to be rehabilitated with funding from the government. Photos by Simon Eluk
By Simon Eluk
Lira: Inadequate road equipment is affecting the upgrade of roads in Lango sub-region.
The sub-region has a total national road network of 1,037.4km and over 2,000km of both district and sub-county road networks.
Out of the national roads, 152.5km are tarmacked according to the Uganda National Roads Authority.
A number of the roads need repairs, but the districts lack road maintenance equipment.
In 2017, the central government gave each district in the country, units of road equipment which comprises a motor grader, vibrio roller, wheel loader, water bowser, and two dump trucks worth sh2.7 billion.
The equipment was procured using a loan from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation and counter-funding by the government of Uganda.
The equipment was fitted with a KOMTRAX system to help monitor fuel usage, engine operation, and tracking the equipment’s location to curb abuse.
However, David Kennedy Odong, the chairperson of Alebtong district, disclosed that the district didn’t receive some of the road equipment, and those that were delivered such as the motor grader and wheel loader are grounded due to mechanical faults.
The district now has only a grader serving all 14 sub-counties in the district.
“The grader has been grounded since 2020 and till now it has not been repaired,” Odongo said, adding; “Even the wheel loader is still at a regional mechanical workshop in Gulu without repair…”
He said the district is still working to get some money in the next budget to repair and have it back on the road.
“We are just struggling to improve on our roads because of lack of equipment,” Odongo said.
This financial year, the government released Shs1b for each of the districts in the sub-region for road works.
Parliament approved the allocation for maintenance of roads in each district, municipality, and City in the country outside the jurisdiction of the Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA).
In Alebtong district, leaders had identified 19 roads for repair in the 2023/2024 financial year.
However, Odongo, also chairperson of all chairpersons in Lango Sub-region, said the inadequate road equipment has made it difficult to exhaust shs1b.
In Alebtong, only sh500 million has been used out of the Shs1b.
Odongo said although the district still has a water bowser, tipper lorry, and one motor grader given two years after the first consignment, the high cost of maintenance is hindering their effectiveness.
He said the local governments are requesting the ministry and parliament to allocate money for the operation and maintenance of the road equipment, lest they are all grounded.
He added that with the meager local revenues, they cannot afford to use it for repair and maintenance since it’s too little.
“If they could devise means where they procure the spares and allocate it to the district local government it would save us,” he said, adding; “Like tyres, they can procure in bulk and distribute it to the district at a certain interval to save us.” the chairperson emphasized.
More districts suffer
The sub-region has ten districts which include, Lira, Kole, Apac, Alebtong, Otuke, Dokolo, Amolatar, Oyam, Kwania, and Lira City, and all are facing the challenge of inadequate road equipment.
Sarah Awor Angweri, the Lira city councilor representing workers, said the shs1b the government gave for road maintenance is still lying idle in the Bank.
“We don’t have road equipment but I am sure that we can borrow from the neighboring local governments,” she said.
The City mayor, Sam Atul, said the City is hiring from Uganda Technical College Lira to work on some of their roads within the City.
“The only thing we are doing at the moment is to use part of the sh1b to hire,” he added.
Kwania spends a huge amount on hire
Geoffrey Alex Ogwal, the chairperson of Kwania said when the government was giving road equipment, Kwania was still under Apac district, and so they don’t have any and are spending a lot of money hiring them.
Ogwal added that in this financial year, the government has allocated sh1 billion for road repairs, but Kwania uses a greater percentage of the funds to hire equipment.
According to Ogwal, the district has been hiring a grader, a roller and an excavator from a private firm at Shs1.2m million per day on each equipment, including other associated costs in the last and current financial years.
“At the end of it all, out of shs1b we may use shs600m on doing the real work and the rest will go for hiring machines,” Ogwal said.
He asked the government to fast-track the process of securing road equipment for the district and local governments that are lacking.
“The law allows us to borrow or hire, but at one time we borrowed from Kole district, unfortunately after three days they came and withdrew the equipment,” he added.
