Parliament Approves Gov’t Request To Borrow Shs1.7 Trillion For Oil Roads

The Parliamentary Committee on National Economy has approved government’s request to borrow $456.37 million (Shs1.7 trillion) for the construction of oil roads.

The committee chairperson, Ms Syda Bbumba, said the oil roads will have a greater impact on the economy as they will facilitate Uganda’s commercial oil production.

Minister for Planning David Bahati in May presented the request to Parliament, indicating that they will borrow the money from Exim Bank of China to construct the oil roads which total 363 kilometres.

Ms Bbumba said they had to expedite the loan request to enable government complete the roads in time.

“The expedited approval of the loan is critical because the pre-financing ended in April 2019 and was extended to July 2019 which also expired and the outstanding certificate from July 2019 will start attracting interest,” the committee report reads in part.

The roads scheduled for construction are Masindi-Kasanja/Park Junction, Tangi (Packwach) Junction-Paraa-Buliisa Road, Wanseko-Bugungu Roads, Hoima-Butiaba-Wanseko and and Buhimba-Bulamagi-Igayaza-Kakumiro.

The committee however says Government agencies should stop making project commitments before seeking approval of Parliament, warning that in future, if any individual or entity commits Government in such a manner, they should be held personally liable and should be dealt with in accordance with the law.

In the project, China Exim Bank will cover 85% of the commercial contract for each package and Government will finance the remaining 15 %.