USIMID Project Closes In Entebbe Municipality

By Sadique Bamwita

ENTEBBE

The Uganda Support to Municipal Infrastructure Development (USIMID) project has come to an end in Entebbe Municipality after 10 years being at the helm of a number of development infrastructures within the municipality.

The first phase of the USIMID program was between 2013-2018 while the second phase was between 2018-2023.  The closed USIMID project has been funded by grants from the World Bank and the government of Uganda.  The funding was intended to support the development of critical and shared public infrastructure in some of the selected municipalities across the country including Entebbe Municipality.

While addressing municipal councilors and stakeholders on Friday 16,2024 during the official closure of USIMID  project, the Entebbe Municipal Senior  Assistant Town Clerk, Dan Fred Lutaaya, told councilors that before official closure of the project, it was imperative to first reflect on what the project had achieved within the two periods  of its implementation so as to make a plan of sustainability of what was achieved . He noted that this was done in line with the governance practice where all stakeholders are brought on board before the project officially closes.

Town Clerk Fred Lutaaya noted that because the project funding was based on performance, accessing funds was competitive and that this was compounded by a wobbly human resources package which eventually led to council missing out on finances on the first launch of the project within selected municipalities across the country.

“Due to human resource challenges by then, we missed out finances on the first launch of USIMID project in Uganda which cost us a lot and in the subsequent project launch we fared well and accessed funds which helped us cover gaps and that is why we were able to construct Kitoro Taxi Park which will be officially commissioned early next month. Through USIMID project, we were able to work on a number of roads within the Municipality among them Church road which was tarmacked and lit with street lights,” Town Clerk Lutaaya revealed.

The Entebbe Municipality Legislator, Hon. Michael Kakembo Mbwatekamwa, urged Entebbe municipal council to work on the issue of bad parking on Entebbe streets and tasked the Law enforcement team to tow cars poorly parked on the streets.

Hon. Kakembo expressed grave concern on the dire state of Buku road that passes behind Entebbe International Airport connecting to Kigungu landing site, and called on Entebbe municipal council authorities to tarmac it with immediate effect so as to save locals from the dust which has escalated diseases like flu and cough among other  respiratory diseases.