District officials visit Igasa Bridge recently
along Ruboona-Bukuuku road in Kabarole District that was washed away by the
March-April heavy rains. Kabarole requires over Shs600 million to reconstruct
its bridges. Photo by FELIX BASIIME
By FELIX BASIIME
Posted Tuesday, March 29 2016 at 01:00 (
Posted Tuesday, March 29 2016 at 01:00 (
IN
SUMMARY
Loam soil has not only
affected individual developers but also the district budget by 30 per cent
George Sande Amooti aka Pecasa is the
managing director of Pecasa Enterprises in Fort Portal, Kabarole District.
He has been in the construction industry for the last 25 years and his work involves construction of roads, buildings, bridges and other works across the country.
His biggest challenge, however, is the loam soils that cover almost the entire
district.
“It is more expensive to carry out any construction works in Kabarole than
elsewhere in the country due to loam soils and earthquakes,” Sande says.
“For example, a three-bedroom house costs over Shs30 million to raise in Fort
Portal compared to the same unit in Kasese which costs Shs20 million.”
A constructor in Kabarole has to dig deeper to reach the red soil while on road
construction, it is difficult to get murram and gravel.
Collapsing toilets and bridges
Sande observes that the government makes the same design for most of the
construction work around the country without regard to other factors like
earthquakes, soils, topography. In the end, money is wasted in collapsed
bridges, toilets and poor road works.
“Some of the latrines at schools in Kabarole District collapse because
government gives us the same design for the whole country. When works collapse,
they claim we carried out shoddy work,” he says.
He says also in Kabarole, it rains throughout the year and it is very difficult
to work during heavy rains.
“These loam soils are the backbone of
Kabarole. However, they also present a challenge on infrastructure, especially
when it comes to roads. 70 per cent of the district is covered by loam soils
yet we get the same amount of money all local governments get to do the same
work despite appeals,” says Mr Sam Mugume, the Kabarole district planner.
“As a result,” he adds, “We are moving at a slower pace than other districts.” Mugume says under the Luweero Rwenzori Development Programme (LRDP), some districts,
including Kabarole, are given little more funding on the criteria having been
affected by the war or in hard- to-reach areas but they don’t consider other
factors.
The LRDP targets 40 districts from
central and western Uganda, including: Buliisa, Bundibugyo, Ntoroko, Hoima,
Ibanda, Isingiro, Kabarole, Kalangala, Kampala, Kamwenge, Kasese, Kayunga,
Kibaale, Kiboga, Kyankwanzi, Kiruhura, Kyenjojo, Kyegegwa, Luwero, Lyantonde,
Masaka, Bukomansimbi, Kalungu, Lwengo, Masindi, Kiryandongo, others include:
Mbarara, Mityana, Mpigi, Gombe, Mubende, Mukono, Buikwe, Buvuma, Nakaseke,
Nakasongola, Wakiso, Rakai, Sembabule and Gomba.
“Funding depends on population
size of the district and poverty levels, so when we are offering contracts, we
increase the rates to accommodate such costs that would be faced by a
contractor,” Mugume says.
Loam soil has not only affected individual developers but also the district budget by 30 per cent according to Mugume.
Loam soil has not only affected individual developers but also the district budget by 30 per cent according to Mugume.
Change in construction methods
Mr David Mijumbi, an engineering assistant in charge of buildings at Kabarole District administration says every year, residents demonstrate over poor roads because they tear off quickly.
He adds, “Because of loam soils, it is
very expensive here to carry out site leveling when raising a building. We have
to do a lot of excavation, the loam soils are spongy, not easy to compact, we
are forced to put up buttress walls which increases the cost of construction.”
“When it comes to latrines, soils are loose, latrines collapse very fast, because
of that, we have to change the technology lining up the pits with concrete
which leads to extra costs” he says.
He says an ordinary pit latrine would
cost about Shs15 million to construct as compared to the improved one at Shs20
million inclusive of taxes on depending on the distance. “Earthquakes and loam
soils in Kabarole make a developer dig deeper in his pocket than elsewhere both
at individual and institutional levels” Mijumbi reasons.
Construction of bridges too has changed. The span has to be very long as
opposed to two metres from the river bank.
“The local bridges are now anchored far away, costing Shs 50 million instead of
Shs30 million,” he observes adding that the district has lost billions of
shillings in latrines and bridges that collapse each year.
According to the district chairman, Mr
Richard Rwabuhinga, loamy soils have made it impossible for engineers to build
strong feeder roads and bridges in the district.
Rwabuhinga says government has been on several occasions asked to consider the soils,
topography, high intensity of rains, maintenance and inaccessible materials
like marrum in the district before deciding on the funds to allocate to
Kabarole District. He says the district needs over Shs6 billion to make strong
and lasting roads and over Shs10 billion to construct strong bridges.
But the Public Relations Officer,
Ministry of Finance, Mr Jim Mugunga says they don’t control budgets at local
governments.
“It is their role, (local governments) to control budgets. The Ministry of
Finance does not do budgets, the local governments know what they should draw
and plan for their budgets through the accounting officers,” he said.
He added, “The CAO drawa the budget with
his team and gives us what they think is required at their local level. We cannot
ignore this when they raise it to us in their budgets.”
He said it is the role of the local government that should explain “that look
this road passes through a mountainous area and needs this funding”
However, in areas like Rwimi, Kabonero, Kateebwa, Bukuuku, Kicwamba and Kasenda
and parts of Hakibale sub-countys have seen some constructors hired later
abandon the job due to the high cost of transporting materials to the sites as
the roads are so slippery with loam soils.
Kabarole at a glance
It is covered by black loams over red sandy clay loams (volcanic soils) and red
sandy loams occasionally under laid by soft laterites on the top layer in most
parts of the District.
Bridges and latrines at times collapse due to the loamy soils which make up
about 70 percent of the district.
Kabarole in Western Uganda has a total area of 1, 814km2 of which 1,569 km2 is covered by arable land and 198 km2 is covered by open water and wetlands.
Kabarole in Western Uganda has a total area of 1, 814km2 of which 1,569 km2 is covered by arable land and 198 km2 is covered by open water and wetlands.
Most valleys have many flowing rivers
and streams, a thing that makes farming easy as animals and people have several
options on water points and there is almost no dry season throughout the year.
It has 56 crater lakes meaning that there was a lot of vulcanicity activity in this area. This also explains why pozzolana, the mineral used in manufacturing cement has high deposits in Fort Portal.
[Source: Kabarole district 5 year development plan (2011-2016).
It has 56 crater lakes meaning that there was a lot of vulcanicity activity in this area. This also explains why pozzolana, the mineral used in manufacturing cement has high deposits in Fort Portal.
[Source: Kabarole district 5 year development plan (2011-2016).
editorial@ug.nationmedia.com
No comments:
Post a Comment