By Peter Ssebulime
Masaka: The first ever plastic tarmac road in Uganda has been constructed in rural Masaka; it connects Bisanje to Gulama villages in Kabonera and Bukakata Sub-counties respectively.
With a backlog of over Shs50Bn needed for road repairs and maintenance in Masaka District, plus earth and tarmac roads that are usually washed away by heavy rains, this innovation is likely to make road construction in Uganda way easier.
The district chairperson Jude Mbabali said that “We have been forced to look for alternative options that are cheaper and will help us produce durable roads.”
He added that “The use of plastic materials instead of the expensive bitumen or tarmac will no longer be a problem or a hindrance to having weather-proof roads in the country anymore.”
According to research, plastic road surface is easier and cheaper to maintain, and the heavy rains which are the main cause of washing away bitumen and potholes cannot penetrate it easily.
“The said plastic road spurns a few kilometers and is already in use; we the leaders and the technical people will keep checking on it to confirm that the new technology will be fit for the purpose before we take it to other parts,” Mbabali noted.
