By Spy Uganda
Busia: Lands, Housing and Urban Development Minister Judith Nabakooba has commissioned works for the construction of a 2km road in Busia Town under the Uganda Support to Municipal Infrastructure Development (USMID) program.
The construction of the road is expected to cost Shs 9bn lasting a period of two years. The minister asked the contractor and the supervising consultants to use these funds to deliver the highest quality of work within the stipulated time.
“USMID program is based on the need to uplift Municipalities through improved urban infrastructure. It is a very competitive program which every urban centre in the country wishes to be part of,” Nabakooba said while congratulating Busia, the newest entrant into USMID Program on the milestone. (Valium)
Here Is Her Full Speech
”Speech By the Hon minister For Lands, Housing & Urban Development At The Ground-Breaking Ceremony For Usmid-Af Project Road Works In Busia Municipality
Hon Members of Parliament Present,
The Resident District Commissioner, Busia
All Distinguished leaders and Guests Present
Thank you for creating time to be with us today.
First, I want to congratulate all the leaders of Busia present with us for having emerged winners in the just-concluded elections.
Busia is such an important local government to our country’s social and economic life and therefore I am sure that the people chose the right people to lead them.
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I also want to congratulate Busia Municipality for having been selected to join the USMID program.
By now, I believe you all are aware that the USMID program is based on the need to uplift Municipalities through improved urban infrastructure.
It is a very competitive program that every urban centre in the country wishes to be part of.
Therefore, while I congratulate you upon joining the program, I beg of you, to take this opportunity and work hard.
Together with 7 other Municipalities, Busia is the newest entrant into USMID Program.
I therefore advise you to learn from those other Municipalities that joined first such as Mbale and Tororo. You do not have to go through the same mistakes that they experienced.
You simply have to do better than them all and excel.
By the time Busia was selected, USMID had completed 5yrs of operations, in which 14 Municipalities had implemented and registered immense successes.
It is from this success that a follow-on project was approved and the funding secured by the Government of Uganda, through my Ministry.
Therefore, having closed the original program in 2018, we thank the World Bank for accepting our request to provide additional financing to support.
With the current funding, you have of UGX 18.811Bn. My prayer is that you work harder and pass the forthcoming assessment so that it informs the future funding.
A team from the Ministry is already out here conducting a Mock assessment, to prepare you for the final one due in October.
I want to take this opportunity to congratulate the Contractor, M/S. Dott Services ltd and the supervising consultants for having been procured to undertake the civil works in this region.
Please note that this a large contract you are expected to deliver the highest quality of work within the stipulated time.
Ladies and Gentlemen, the USMID program is scheduled to close on 31st December 2023, meaning that we have less than 3 years to complete all the actions we intend to take.
We have lost a lot of time in the preparatory stages of the program largely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and its restrictive environment.
We cannot afford to lose any more time. We have to change strategy to improve our efficiency and deliver in the stipulated timelines.
I want to challenge the leaders in Busia to utilise these resources very well so that you come up with a clean and well-planned Municipality.
I would like to inform the Municipal Council leaders that the USMID program has an elevated standard of transparency, accountability and participation of all citizens.
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You must already be aware of the Complaints Handling system under the Program where you will receive, register and resolve complaints about the works and other aspects of the program.
My Ministry has also opened a call centre office and devoted a full-time telephone line to register complaints on the lands, housing and urban development sector and the USMID programme too. It is 0800 100 004.
You are therefore urged to use both offices to have your complaints and grievances addressed.
Community participation in Municipal Council development and under the USMID program has also been catalysed through the establishment of the Municipal Development Forums (MDF).
All stakeholders should be represented and their roles understood for the development of their Municipality.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I wish to call on each one of you residents of Busia to continue supporting the USMID programme and particularly the road works we have flagged off today.
Do not keep quiet when you see something wrong being done.
I want to conclude by committing my staff to you, through the PS, to provide the necessary technical supervision and continuous monitoring to remove any bottlenecks that may constrain the implementation of this project.
The Ministry leadership will always be available to offer the necessary support.
I thank you for your attention.
For God and my Country
Judith Nabakooba-Minister for Lands, Housing and Urban Development.”
