The Government’s long-awaited project to construct 6,000 housing units for low income earners will soon take off after it received support from the Water and Sanitation for Africa (WSA), a pan-African intergovernmental agency.
Ugandas minister for lands, housing and urban development, Daudi Migereko (R) speaks with WSA CEO Idrissa Doucoure on the sidelines of the ongoing water and sanitation forum in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.
The minister for lands, housing and urban development, Daudi Migereko, said the agency had approved the plan and lined it up among its priority projects to receive funding this year and next year.
First announced last year, the plan had stalled due to lack of funding. Under the project, 1500 two and three-bedroomed houses will be built in Wakiso, Lira (1000), Arua (500), Mbarara (500), Jinja (1500), Kabale (500). Other districts to benefit include Ntungamo and Soroti.
Speaking on the sidelines of the ongoing “third high level forum on water and sanitation for all in Africa” in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, Migereko revealed that the project is estimated to cost $200m (about sh500b).
“The project is now in advanced stages. WSA has already sent technical teams to conduct topographic and soil studies and other work on the housing designs and costing. I want us to start building before the year ends,” Migereko said.
“WSA is helping us bring development partners on board to provide the requisite financing for the project. We are meeting some of the financiers here (Ivory Coast).”
He made the remarks this afternoon after witnessing the signing of a memorandum of understanding between WSA and the Korean Environment Corporation as one of the avenues for sourcing for funding for water, sanitation and housing projects across the continent.
Statistics from the ministry indicate that Uganda has a shortage of over 1.6 million housing units, with Kampala district alone having a deficit of over 100, 000 housing units.
The situation is likely to worsen as the country’s urban population grows at over 5.6% annually, one of the highest rates in Africa.
Migereko said that with support from agencies like WSA, the Government will manage to embark on mass production of houses to cater for the low income earners, who comprise the greatest proportion of the population. The campaign will also help to upgrade slums in urban centers, he observed.
The minister explained that WSA had also approved plans to put up water harvesting systems in all the proposed housing units as one of the ways to enhance access to safe water in the country.
Organized under the theme “Vibrant and effective south-south cooperation to accelerate access to hygiene, sanitation and water for all in Africa,” the forum aims at addressing financial, technical and institutional challenges in the water, sanitation and housing sector on the continent.
The state minister for primary health care Sarah Opendi and the director for housing in the lands ministry, Ambassador Agness Kalibbala, are also among the thousands of participants drawn from across the continent.
By Francis Kagolo, The New Vision
