Installation of streetlights at Moroto Bus Terminal. Photo by Okanokodi EMar P’Tekamoi
By Okanokodi EMar P’Tekamoi
Moroto: Moroto municipality has launched the installation of 320 solar streetlights worth over shs3bn on twelve roads.
The streetlights were acquired with financial support from the World Bank under the Uganda Support to Municipal Infrastructure Development Program (USMID).
The 12 roads where the streetlights will be installed are; Lia Street, Kakolye Road, Adyebo-Dodoth Road, Independence Avenue, Circular Road, Bishop Lomongin Road, Library Road, and the recently constructed new bus terminal.
Eng. Fred Kantu, the chief engineer of Relief Line Uganda Limited, the company contracted to install the lights, said the installation would take two months.
According to Kantu, each of the batteries of the solar lights can last five years, while that of the panels is 25 years.
Residents excited about solar streetlights
The installation of the solar streetlights has brought excitement among the residents of the municipality.
Angela Namoe, a resident of Campswahilli village in Moroto municipality, said that lighting the streets will help the people who move at night feel secure.
Namoe said the absence of streetlights facilitated goons to waylay people in dark corners at night.
“The lights will scare away criminals who have been using darkness to commit crimes against the residents of Moroto municipality,” Namoe said.
Namoe also added that installing the lights will boost the beauty of the municipality, stating, “It will be like unveiling a lady who has agreed to wear makeup so that people see her beauty.”
George Fred Ojamuge, a resident of Namamuchuli village, Moroto municipality, said the installation of street lights will help those who are sick move in the night to access medical services.
Ojamuge stated that even the police who always conduct operations at night will be easily identify suspected criminals and harmless people moving at night.
Bite by George Francis Ojamuge on streetlights
Moroto municipality has for years been known for night gun-related crimes despite consistent night patrols by a joint team of police and the military.
The latest incident occurred in November 2023, where a businessman was murdered as he was entering his house in Campswahilli at 10 pm.
Muhammed Ismael, the mayor of Moroto Municipality, stated that, in consultation with the municipal and district councils, it was agreed that lighting should be prioritized as it will boost night security, positively impact livelihoods, and boost the night economy, which he said was being affected by the lack of lights.
“This initiative will impact the lives of the people of Moroto, especially the vendors who have got PDM and have invested in businesses,” Muhammed stated, adding that “I want to see a town that has businesses operating night and day, which will contribute to improving household incomes in Moroto.”
Muhammed also noted that with an increase in business time, the local revenue will also be boosted, hence improvement in the provision of service to the residents of Moroto municipality.
The Ministry of Lands, Housing, and Urban Development in 2017 developed a National Urban Policy framework to guide interventions targeted at promoting sustainable, spatially integrated, and orderly development of urban areas in the country.
To achieve this, the ministry initiated special projects such as USMID, which has seen 14 municipalities transformed with facilities such as roads, bus, taxi and lorry parks, drainage, and street lights among others.
The second NDP 2015/16 and 2019/20, states that infrastructure is one of the planned priority investments that the government considers to have the greatest multiplier effect on the economy. Others are agriculture, tourism, human capital development, minerals, and oil and gas.
Administrative units that have benefitted from the USMID projects are; Arua, Gulu, Lira, Soroti, Entebbe, Mbale, Tororo and Jinja, Hoima, Kabale, Masaka, and Mbarara.
