The Government of Uganda has to source for shs91 billion (US$25m) in order to complete the remaining works on the new Jinja suspended bridge, itself the first of kind marvel on the continent.
Works State minister General Edward Katumba Wamala confirmed the need last week when he visited the construction site on a fact finding and verification tour. He was accompanied by members of the Parliamentary Committee on the National Economy chaired by Ms Syda Bbumba.
The bridge was budgeted at a cost of US$125m, with the Government of Japan expected to finance 80 per cent and the rest to be met by the Uganda government through counterpart funding.
“We are asking for money because when the project kicked off, Government was supposed to contribute some money towards the project; but when we reached at a certain level it failed to get the money so we went back to the Japanese Government to add us some more money,” Gen. Katumba Wamala said.
On her part Ms. Bbumba said she led members of her committee because the works ministry put in a request for a loan.
“We want to find out whether they really want the loan and also want to know whether the amount they have asked for and the remaining work does match it,” Ms. Bbumba said.
She added: “From what we have seen so far, the work is quite commendable though they lost a bit of time from the time the work commenced (in 2006) and the time the actual construction started (in 2014). If they hadn’t lost that time, we would be using that bridge.”
Ms Bbumba, who is also the Nakaseke North Member of Parliament, noted that since Uganda is waterlogged, the skills attained by Ugandan engineers will be used in constructing many more bridges.
The former finance minister called on the contractors to speed up the completion of the new bridge “and save people’s lives because the old bridge is weakening.”
The old bridge, known as the Owen Falls Bridge, is about 64 years old.
The project, being carried out by Zenitaka Corporation of Japan and Hyundai Engineering and Construction Company from South Korea, stands at 90 per cent completion rate and if all goes according to plan, the bridge will be completed by September 2018.
