Parliament\nhas passed the Roads Bill 2018 that will see motorists start paying to use some\nroads around the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nbill provides for among others, the prescription of tolls for toll roads that\nmay be put in place by the Minister for Works and Transport by a statutory\ninstrument and in consultation with the Minister for Finance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“A\ntoll prescribed under subsection (1) shall be a charge levied on a vehicle\nusing a toll road for the purpose of recovering the cost of construction,\noperation, maintenance and rehabilitation of the road,†reads the Bill in part.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Its\nadds that the charge levied on a vehicle shall be done in accordance with the\nclassification of vehicles set out in Schedule 6, that breaks down the types of\nvehicles that are liable to paying toll fees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Parliament\non Thursday, 16 May 2019 approved amendments to a number of clauses and\nschedules in the Bill that include among others the declaration of a toll road,\nthe prescription of tolls, the payment of road tolls, toll revenue,\npublic-private partnerships and shadow tolling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nchairperson of the Physical Infrastructure Committee, Hon. Kafeero Ssekitoleko\nsaid that the Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) would be responsible for\nthe effective functioning of road tolls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“A\nroad authority [UNRA] may, in accordance with the Public Private Partnerships\nAct, 2015, enter into public private partnership agreement with a toll operator\nor concessionaire to collect toll revenue or to manage the account…†reads the\nBill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“The\nvital role played by roads in enhancing the country’s economic development\nnecessitates new financing methods to increase funding for construction,\noperation, maintenance and rehabilitation of the infrastructure,†Kafeero\nSekitoleko said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kafeero\nSekitoleko added that Government will be able to repay the private capital by\ncharging tolls on roads, which would be paid by all road users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nlaw however, provides for exemption of emergency vehicles of the fire brigade\nand ambulances, the presidential convoy and vehicles belonging to the military,\npolice and other security forces on emergency duty from paying road toll fees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nbill also provides for punishment for persons who may destroy road furniture or\nburn any substance that can damage a public road, with a fine of up to shs 480,\n000 or one year in prison, or both.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\npassing of the bill will lead to implementation of the tolls on the\nKampala-Entebbe expressway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Kampala-Entebbe expressway is currently Uganda’s only toll road with a total of three main toll plazas that boast a total of 16 toll gates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Parliamentary News<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Parliament has passed the Roads Bill 2018 that will see motorists start paying to use some roads around the country. The bill provides for among others, the prescription of tolls for toll roads that may be put in place by the Minister for Works and Transport by a statutory instrument and in consultation with the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27983,"featured_media":9449,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_paywall_metabox":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[98],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9448","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n