By Spy Uganda
The outbreak of Coronavirus in China, which later spread to other countries, has stalled several infrastructural projects that were being undertaken by Chinese in Uganda.
It should be noted that Chinese were undertaking projects like constructing dams, roads and other infrastructure prior to the outbreak of the deadly COVID-19 Coronavirus.
We have established that one of the worst-hit companies is Uganda Electricity Generation Company (UEGC), which had contracted Chinese engineers to construct Karuma and Isimba dams.
While commenting about anomaly, Simon Kasyate, the head of communications at the UEGC, which contracted two Chinese firms to construct two new mega dams at Karuma and Isimba, regretted the timing of the outbreak.
He said the outbreak came at a time when most of the workers had flown to their country for the festive season.
Kasyate said that; “Most had gone for their leave for the lunar new year. They are experiencing delays on return and they have to be quarantined for another 14 days upon their return. That obviously has given us a bit of time lag although it has not had a substantial impact.”
About Hydropower Dams
Kasyate said the impact would have been worse had Isimba and Karuma projects not already made substantial progress. Isimba hydro power dam, a 183MW project in Kayunga district along the River Nile, was handed over to the government last year, but a skeleton staff of the contractors remain on site for the Defect Liabilities Period, a technical contractual requirement for the contractor to identify and fix any minor defects before handing over the project.
Commenting about Karuma, a 600 Megawatts dam at Karuma Falls, also on the River Nile physical, Kasyate said works now stand above 96 per cent and most of the equipment was either already on site or at sea.
“Karuma is still on schedule,” he said, “and the good news is that part of the contract was on capacity building and therefore a good number of Ugandans had been trained and are able, together with the few Chinese staff that remained on site, to progress.”
He revealed that as many as 6,000 Chinese were working on the two dam projects at some time.
Reports indicate that the coronavirus outbreak has hit Chinese-controlled infrastructure projects in Uganda, threatening to stall upwards of 90 per cent of the country’s major roads construction, and the delay is translating into losses for government.
This is because government had disbursed funds to several Chinese firms for construction of roads, dams and other infrastructure, including the Standard Gauge Railway.
When contacted about the matter, the Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) spokesperson Mark Ssali, said an assessment of the overall impact is still being made, but confirmed that construction has “slowed down a bit”.
However, insiders reveal that the impact is likely bigger at UNRA, where at least nine out of every 10 major roads projects that were contracted to Chinese firms have since stalled. Construction works at some of these projects are being taken over by Egyptian, Turkish and Portuguese contractors.
But Sali reassured Ugandans that UNRA is working closely with the Ministry of Health to ensure that only healthy contractors are on site, after going through the quarantine process.
The Ministry of Health revealed a few days ago that about 100 China returnees who included Ugandans and Chinese nationals completed the 14-day self-quarantine on Saturday without showing any signs of the virus.
Dr Diana Atwiine, the Permanent Secretary Ministry of health, reassured the country that government has capacity to test for the virus and adequately handle any infected person.
“We are able to conduct the tests locally,” she told the media, adding that the ministry has qualified medical personnel to contain the virus and stop it from spreading in case of any breakout.
It is important to note that China is a major player in investment and contracts in Africa. In sub-Saharan Africa, the value of investment and contracts in the three years between 2015 and 2018 totalled $299 billion, according to the China Investment Global tracker. Actually in 2018, President Xi Jinping pledged an extra $60 billion.
However, with the outbreak of Coronavirus the amount is likely to be slashed since most of the money will be channelled to fighting the COVID-19 virus, which has so far killed hundreds of people in China since its outbreak in late December 2019.
