Views: 0
The Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) Executive Director, Dorothy Kisaka, held a press conference at Hotel Africana to provide updates on three important issues affecting the city.
The conference touched upon the progress of road works, the Parish Development Model (PDM) program, and the matter of street cleaners in the city.
Street Cleaners and City Cleanliness
During the press conference on Thursday, Kisaka addressed the issue of street cleaners and the efforts being made to improve the cleanliness of the city.
Kisaka acknowledged the importance of city cleaners and informed the public that KCCA has engaged two cleaning groups; Community Saccos and 7 Hills, to handle the cleaning tasks.
These groups have been recognized as legal entities and their scopes of work have been clearly defined.
“As KCCA we are committed to working with the two groups of cleaners. No one is going to lose their job,” Kisaka said.
She stressed the importance of active participation and work in order to receive payment, and assured the public that there is no intention to withhold payment from the cleaners.
“By 15th they must have been paid for the previous months work. We pay them through their Saccos,” Kisaka said.
However, occasional delays in payment have occurred due to late submission of payrolls by the Saccos’ leadership and delayed release of funds from the finance department.
While occasional delays occurred due to administrative factors, Kisaka underscored the cooperative efforts between KCCA, the cleaning groups, and the government to ensure a clean and well-functioning city.
Road Works and NAM Conference Preparations
Regarding road development, Kisaka outlined the ongoing preparations for hosting the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) conference.
Key areas of focus include road maintenance, physical planning, addressing flood-prone areas, and initiatives to support street children and vendors.
The road maintenance efforts cover crucial roads like Mukwano, Press House, Ggaba, Cape, Salaama, Mobutu, Prince Badru Kakungulu, UCB Rise, Seriso, and Tank Hill.
Additional measures will be taken to distribute dustbins, conduct rescue operations for street children, and ensure street vendors are back in the markets.
The funds to these efforts is part of the sh78b development funding that government has already released KCCA.
Regarding ongoing maintenance of roads in the city, Kisaka highlighted the collaboration with the UPDF Engineering brigade in fixing roads, emphasizing ongoing efforts to eliminate potholes.
“They will be coming to support our engineering teams to fix the various roads in the city,” Kisaka said.
Streetlights will be installed along 30 km of roads, illegal structures will be removed, and rescue operations for street children will be intensified.
Furthermore, plans are underway to improve roads in Busega market to maximize its utilization.
“I want to call upon all those operating on the street to leave and start working in the markets. We have 16 markets and Kisekka will be opened soon,” Kisaka said.
Parish Development Model
As part of the PDM program, KCCA has launched the distribution of funds in various divisions of Kampala.
The Hon Minister for Kampala Capital City and Metropolitan Affairs, Hajjat Minsa Kabanda officially launched the disbursement of PDM funds, on Tuesday at the USAFI Taxi Park.
Kisaka revealed that the government has provided sh9.7 billion for this program for all the beneficiaries in Kampala.
The distribution kicked off with sh1.3 billion disbursed to 1,300 beneficiaries in Central Division. On Thursday, Minsa Kabanda launched the same exercise in Kawempe Division where sh1.16 billion has been disbursed to 1,160 beneficiaries.
All the five Divisions are set to receive the funds set to impact 67,470 individuals.
This initiative aims to support Saccos in the city, with each parish receiving sh100 million shillings and each beneficiary getting sh1 million.
Kisaka expressed gratitude to the government and urged politicians to ensure the proper utilization of these funds.
Furthermore, she appealed for additional funding to support more beneficiaries and encouraged individuals to become members of Saccos to access the financial assistance.
The PDM program, which was launched by President Museveni in February 2022 has set a lofty goal of lifting 17.5 million Ugandans from 3.5 million households out of poverty.
This program represents the government’s latest effort to combat poverty and drive economic transformation.
The Parish Revolving Fund, provided by the government, serves as a capitalization grant to SACCOS with the purpose of lending to viable income-generating activities, encompassing the production, processing, marketing, and storage of agricultural products.
Source:KCCA Media