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Wakiso, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Nansana municipality’s plan to have their major street redesigned to meet their desired standards hangs in balance since the Uganda National Roads Authority is yet to accept their proposal.
With the central business area developing along a major highway (Kampala-Hoima road), municipal authorities have always worried about how the section road in the area will be redesigned to accommodate the special features of a town street.
According to the plan which had been proposed earlier this year, Nansana authorities wanted the stretch from Jeninah to Yesu Amala centers be redesigned to accommodate among others, extending the walkway far from the road to minimize the risk of pedestrians competing for space with motorists, creation of parking space to generate local revenue and having green fields.
However, the Municipal Town Clerk Ambrose Atwok says this might have to wait as UNRA officials who were positive about the proposal have since changed their view on the matter. Atwok shares that during his last meeting, UNRA officials sighted funding challenges as one of the reasons that might fail the plan given the scope of the work.
“You know the project has a budget implication. This makes it difficult to implement it there and then. But we are still optimistic that eventually we will achieve our plan in the future,” says Atwok admitting that development has since brought setbacks to the municipality since it had been looked at parking fees as one of the major untapped sources of revenue.
He however notes that next year the council will pass a bye-law which will help them collect parking fees even before the change of road designs.
Although the road is under UNRA, Nansana authorities intend to contribute to the implementation of the project within the next three Financial Years by committing between Shillings 180 million to 240 million. The municipality was using Hoima road as a pilot, with plans to apply the same on sections of Gulu Road around Matugga areas before they eventually scale up the project in all centers.
Nansana is one of the townships that cropped up without proper physical planning which is currently haunting authorities who have to plan for the already developed area making most of the proposals meet dead-end as at times they end up being inapplicable.
Meanwhile, the municipal’s effort to have all streets paved by property owners is also yet to yield results. Although the municipal authorities had set March this year as a deadline for the activity, a few property owners have compiled.
Dr Robert Kagwire, the project focal person notes that they had slowed down on enforcement when some people had requested for more time.“This will be attained, we are committed about the paving and greening of Nansana. we have already planted grass in all spaces along the major streets and soon all property owners will finish paving. They just needed time since the activity require some finances which to some of them might not be readily available.”
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