Cabinet on Monday agreed to borrow about Euros 108m (about Shs430b) from China for construction of oil roads.
Government
will borrow the money from the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China
to finance the construction of Masindi-Biiso, Kabaale-Kiziranfumbi and
Hohwa-Nyairongo-Kyarusesa-Butoole roads.
“Upgrading
and constructing the national oil roads will facilitate the efficient
development of the strategic national oil resources,” Uganda Media
Centre communications and media relations manager Denis Katungi said
yesterday.
He did not elaborate what interest rate the government will pay on the loan or the loan period.
Mr
Katungi said the upgrade will add to the network of road infrastructure
required for movement of construction materials, workers and
consumables from other parts of the country to the oil region.
In
March last year, government signed a contract with China Railway Seventh
Group to design and construct a 97km road connecting Masindi-Biso,
Kabaale-Kiziranfumbi and Hohwa-Nyairongo-Kyarushesha-Butoole.
Minister
of State for Planning David Bahati in May last year presented to
Parliament a loan request of $456.37m (about Shs1.7 trillion) from China
Exim Bank to fund the upgrade and construction of national oil roads.
The projected total length of the oil roads is 700km.
Efforts
to get a comment from the Minister of Finance, Mr Matia Kasaija were
futile by press time. He asked this newspaper to call him later, saying
he was in a lecture.
The chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee
on National Economy, Ms Syda Bbumba, also could not talk to Daily
Monitor. She said she was busy in Parliament.
Background
Uganda
has received large credit lines from China in recent years as part of
the Asian giant’s so-called Belt and Road Initiative. Construction of
the oil roads would accelerate efforts to commence crude oil production
in Uganda, which has failed to take off 14 years after crude reserves
were discovered.
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