GOVERNMENT MAKING SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS IN SGR PROJECT
GOVERNMENT is continuing to make significant progress in the development of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) in the country, with the contract due to be signed with the contractor.
The Minister of State for Information, Communications Technology & National Guidance Godffrey Kabyanga, while addressing the media in Kampala yesterday, named the contractor as M/s Yapi Merkezi (Turkish firm). He was flanked by the SGR project coordinator Canon. Perez Wamburu.
“The development of the SGR is in the tail end of agreeing on the cost and then we sign the contract with a few weeks, with the approval of the Attorney General. We hope the construction will start by the end of this year,” Wamburu said at the Media Centre.
The minister explained that the Ministry of Works and Transport was negotiating with the contractor to undertake the construction of the Malaba Kampala route under Engineering, Procurement, Construction (EPC)/Turkey plus Finance arrangement,” the minister said.
The contractor, under this arrangement, he said, would also support government in exploring sources of financing the project.
He said that Cabinet sitting on Monday 29th July 2024 had received a report from the Ministry of Works and Transport, about the progress and future outlook of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) Project in the country.
The SGR is a government project to develop a modern, integrated, and efficient railway transport system to address both the freight and passenger transportation needs of the country.
Uganda in 2014, together with her Northern Corridor Partner States of Kenya, Rwanda and later South Sudan signed a regional SGR Protocol to develop a seamless transport system interconnecting their cities as well as connecting them to the coast of Mombasa.
Kenya and Uganda set out to develop the SGR System from Mombasa to Kampala via Nairobi, Kisumu and Kenya has since developed their SGR from Mombasa to Nairobi, Nairobi to Naivasha and the line is operational.
The minister yesterday said the initiative, developed under the auspices of the Northern Corridor Infrastructure Projects Protocol and guided by Cabinet directives, presents a critical step towards unlocking economic growth and fostering a conducive investment environment for local and foreign stakeholders.
The objectives of the project he said are to enhance transport efficiency by providing a modern, fast, reliable and high capacity railway network which will reduce transit times, lower transport costs and facilitate the movement of goods and passengers.
It also aims to promote economic growth by creating seamless connectivity within Uganda and neighboring countries to stimulate trade, investment and industrial development and to facilitate regional integration as part of a broader regional integration efforts, promote closer economic ties and collaboration with regional partners.
“We would therefore like to inform all Ugandans that the development of SGR is on and work will commence as soon as the Financing arrangements are sorted,” he said.
Wamburu yesterday said all the three aspects of the project including Land acquisition, and compensation of the affected communities and resource mobilization were continuing.
He said over 50% of the required land to accommodate the 230km major straight rail and 40km short lines connecting to various factories and warehouses, had been acquired between Malaba and Jinja. The rail, he said, would also eventually extend from Malaba to Pakwach, Kampala to Kasese, DRC border.
Wamburu explained that the total valuation of the land for compensation stands at sh610 billion, of which over sh300 billion had already been dispensed.
The Turkish firm is the one that built the Tanzanian SGR from Dae es Salaam – Morogoro (Km 300), Morogoro- Makutupora (Km 422) which are now operational, and currently building Makutupora –Tabora (Km 294).
In April 2017, preliminary estimates for the entire Uganda SGR Project covering 1,724 km was quoted at Sh45.6 trillion (approximately US$12.8 billion). The Malaba–Kampala section alone, measuring 273 km with associated train stations and railway yards, is budgeted to cost US$2.3 billion.
A standard gauge railway (SGR), is a rail line system whose distance between rails ranges from 1,420 mm to 1,460 mm. It’s faster, carries more cargo, and is more stable than the metre gauge rail network whose track gauge is 1,000 mm (1 metre)
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