The contractor for the two Uganda Support to Municipal Infrastructure Development Additional Financing (USMID-AF) bridges in Arua has been given instructions by State Minister of Lands Obiga Kania, who is in charge of urban development, to finish the project by July 15 of this year.
The government provides funding for the Enyau Bridges project, which has an approximate cost of shillings 5b, via the USMID-AF program.
Originally scheduled to be completed in June 2023, the building of the two bridges—River Enyau I on Odia Nyadri–Congo Road in the Arua district and Enyau II Bridge on Awindiri–Ajono Road in Arua city—took eight months, starting in October 2022. Niem Establishment Ltd. is the company working on the project.
But unexpected difficulties and contentious personnel sharing have made the project go slowly, necessitating two extensions already.
The contractor was not on site and had abandoned one bridge with no indication that work was being done, so the minister gave the ultimatum on Monday during a monitoring exercise on the two bridges.
With the USMID projects coming to an end at the end of June 2024, Kania expressed his unhappiness with the work’s slow development while highlighting the significance of the bridges for economic potential with the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
“I was generally disappointed because the projects needed more time, even though they should have been commissioned a year ago, and they are very important for the people,” Kania added.
“I’m hoping the contractor who isn’t present at the site will follow the instructions and finish the work as soon as possible because they keep coming up with different excuses like labor and money, which we let them fix, but they still can’t finish,” he continued.
Kania also suggested that the authorities evaluate the technical and competency of potential contractors rather than only issuing contracts to residents of the area, and he pushed the district and municipal development committees to participate in the monitoring process.
The quality of the work completed and the associated expenditures, according to Arua district engineer William Tiyo Oda, are satisfactory despite the postponed completion timeline.
The contract was meant to expire in June of last year, so that presents a dilemma. Even after we gave it until December, it could not be completed. We discovered some shortcomings in some of the work later on,” Tiyo remarked.
The chairperson of Arua district, Alfred Okuonzi, expressed his displeasure at the delayed completion and praised the minister for issuing the deadline. He also promised close monitoring in conjunction with the community to guarantee the delivery of high-quality work.
The minister’s extension till July 15th is understandable, but this task need to be finished by the end of the month, as far as I’m aware. To help the community comprehend the projects, he also emphasized the creation of district and city development forums.
“I want to urge everyone in the community to maintain composure and keep an eye out to make sure that no subpar work gets done,” Okuonzi continued.
An elder in Tilevu parish, Vurra sub-county, Arua district named Levi Ejiku said that they were anticipating for better service delivery and economic prospects after the bridge was completed, but their happiness and enthusiasm for the project are quickly dwindling as a result of the needless delays.
A kilometer of road needs to be graded and leveled, according to Ateebe Bilai, an engineer with the contractor Niem Establishment Ltd., who earlier stated that the bridges will be prepared for commissioning by July.
