The Minister for Works and Transport, Gen. Edward Katumba Wamala says there will be increased Police patrols along the Kampala-Entebbe Expressway to curb vandalism of the chain link fence and other road furniture.
According to the Minister, the theft and vandalism of the road furniture happens at night when there are no road users adding that the equipment is sold to scrap dealers and metal fabricators.
“Whereas there are reasonable efforts to secure road assets by the Road Agency Protection Unit, total protection will need 24 hour surveillance and enforcement of the entire road network,” said Gen. Katumba Wamala.
He added that the presence of the Uganda Police on the expressway has been discussed with the Kampala Metropolitan Police who have increased the deployment of patrol vehicles.
The Minister told the House sitting on Thursday, 18 March 2021 that local leaders will be engaged to promote sensitisation to local communities to understand and appreciate the beauty of the road infrastructure.
“We have also engaged a research team to work with other international bodies to experiment on other safe and sustainable materials which may not be as commercially attractive to the fabricators as is the case with the metals on the Entebbe Expressway,” he said.
According to the Works and Transport Minister, the design and financing loan from China Exim Bank did not include illumination of the Kampala-Entebbe Expressway. He added that government has identified this need for safety and security reasons and has availed the funding for the illumination under the operations and maintenance contract.
“With the presence of a contractor who shall provide 24 hour services to include road-tolling, the problem of vandalism of road furniture will be mitigated,” the minister told Parliament.
Katumba Wamala also revealed that the Uganda National Roads Authority is working to ensure that the Lira-Kamdini Road is motorable.