The Minister of Works and Transport, Gen. Edward Katumba Wamala, has said that his Ministry has no money to fund its ongoing road works.
Speaking in response to the concerns raised by Members of Parliament over collapsed bridges in certain parts of the country during the Tuesday, 25 August 2020 sitting, Gen. Katumba Wamala said that the finance ministry had only given them money for salaries.
“My Ministry unfortunately only receives money for salary. When I talked to the Ministry of Finance they said they do not have enough money to fund the road projects because of poor collections so we have had to scale down works,” he added.
Hon. Godfrey Katusabe (FDC, Bukonjo County West) said that bridges in Bukonjo have affected transportation in the area since the people staying in the low lands cannot access medical and other services.
Katusabe talked about the dire situation in his constituency saying, “Transportation has been heavily encumbered since the rains started leaving people desperate and stuck; the government must do something”.
NRM’s Hon. Lubogo Kenneth representing Bulamogi County added that Saka bridge connecting Kaliro and Pallisa districts had been ravaged by the heavy rains and people have been dying trying to cross the section.
“This has affected commerce in the area and cut off Busoga from Bugisu and Bukedi,” he said.
Speaker Rebecca Kadaga who presided over the sitting said that this matter has been on the Floor for a while and the government needed to something about it.
Hon. William Nzoghu representing Busongora County North under the FDC Party supplemented to the submissions that money allocated for the previous quarter of Financial Year 2019/2020 and the first quarter of the current Financial Year 2020/2021 had not been sent to Kasese to handle the Busongora roads.
The Minister responded saying that all the roads and bridges that had been raised by the MPs were in the five-year plan starting this year and would be considered when the Ministry receives funding.