Entebbe road flooding will end —contractor

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KAMPALA — The floods on the Entebbe Road that two weeks ago paralysed transport will stop, the firm constructing the road has said.

While responding to an article published by the Sunday Monitor on September 11 about the flooding sections of the road, the China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) said they are still on the site attending to additional works instructed during the Defect Liability Period, after the Ugandan National Roads Authority (UNRA) gave them a substantial; completion certificate.

“The section of about 50 meters at Bata-Bata Namasuba is being fixed. We are taking more time on it because of the swampy nature of the area. We are putting better culverts, and reinforcement to avoid desilting which causes flooding because wetlands in the area have been encroached on, piling pressure on the roads,” Mr Guo Zitong, the project engineer, told Daily Monitor. 

CCCC applied modern road construction equipment in extracting the existing earth in the failed section and reinforced it with stone base.

The section is at the boundary of a water logged Lufuka drainage channel that overflows whenever there is a downpour.

Mr Joseph Bao, the firm’s country director, said all other elements of the rest of the road such as the pavement, road markings, and drainage channels, among others, are up to standard.

The area local community attributes the problem to the blocked drainage channels that do not facilitate smooth flow of rainwater.

Mr Salongo Musoke the chairman for Lufuka -Bunamwaya in Makindye Sabagabo in Wakiso said the area drainage channels are covered by bush and turned into grazing grounds for animals. In December 2019, for instance, five people, including a police officer, died in floods. Among those killed was Jowelia Tumusime, 50, who was swept away by floods and killed in the Bata Bata area.

“There were plans by UNRA to expand the Lufuka drainage channel up to Busaabala road where it drains but have not yet been updated to what constrained the arrangement that was introduced to area local leaders,” said Musoke.

On September 8, Unra confirmed that the $12m (Shs46b) refurbishment works on the 22-kilometre Kibuye-Entebbe Road had been completed.

The project, according to the roads authority, included the repair of existing pavement, construction of drainage channels to reduce flooding and putting in place safety enhancement measures such as road markings and guard rails, among other things.

Mr Allan Kyobe, the Unra spokesperson, said the roadworks had been substantially completed ahead of time. The Substantial Completion Certificate, he added, had already been issued to the contractor.

The Substantial Completion Certificate placed sections of the road under Defects Liability Period (DLP) effective August 2 to February 3, 2023.

A DLP is the time period specified in the contract during which a contractor is legally required to return to a construction site to repair any defects, which have appeared in that contractor’s work since the date of completion.

UNRA had issued additional works that were deemed to be very crucial which are currently being executed during the Defect Liability Period