By Wesley Spartan
MASAKA. The Masaka Resident District Commissioner (RDC) has stopped road construction in Masaka Town, citing shoddy work and corruption.
Mr Linos Ngompek also ordered police to impound construction materials which engineers and municipality workers were using to patch up potholes in the town. He issued the directive on Wednesday.
Masaka Municipality authorities have been filling potholes on several roads in the town streets such as Hobert, Jaserby and Elgin, among others.
However, Mr Ngompek said the completed work is substandard and he had received information that the ongoing roadworks were intended to cover up stolen funds by the technical team.
He said the municipality gets funds for roadworks every three months but the money is diverted elsewhere.
“When you look at the work done, it is of very poor quality, but at a very high cost. We cannot let this to go on unchecked. Some potholes that have just been patched up have developed cracks again because of poor workmanship,” Mr Ngompek said.
He wondered why the construction works are always delayed up to almost the end of the financial year if there are no ulterior motives.
“They are fond of waiting until the last months to the end of the financial year and rush to construct roads which creates suspicion. Let them come out and explain before resuming the roadworks,” he added.
The Masaka Municipality Town Clerk, Mr Joseph Kimbowa, however, defended the delays in road construction, saying they get insufficient funds.
Mr Kimbowa said they get funds in installments which at times delays the purchase of materials, causing a delay in commencement of the works. He urged the RDC to trust his office, saying he cannot allow theft of government funds.
He said a standard kilometer of bitumen road costs Shs800m which the municipality cannot raise in one quarter (three months) because it gets Shs250m per release.
Mr Kimbowa said they often keep the funds until they reach the sufficient amount to do the work.
He said some times they buy materials in installments until they gather enough to start the construction works.
“Delays in construction works is not our own making. It is caused by insufficient funds. If we got funds we need in time, there is no reason why we should delay to complete the construction works,” he said.
“The RDC needed to know this first before halting the roadworks,” Mr Kimbowa said.
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