The Ugandan Parliament in Kampala decided to give immediate attention to poor infrastructures in the whole of East African Region. ‘The poor infrastructure in the region needed immediate attention and the problem of infrastructure in East Africa is a matter of survival, especially electricity, the roads and railway” said the Uganda president.
He went a head and told Parliament that the UPDF had set up an engineering brigade with capacity to carry out engineering tasks, including building infrastructure.
We shall use them to build the railway. I talked to the army engineers and they said it is okay,” he disclosed.
Museveni emphasized that if the colonialists used rudimentary tools to construct the railway line used in East Africa today, the army was in a better position with better technology. This idea was supported by other East African presidents through which the Railway line passes.
Mr. Odinga did not see the need for the study estimated to cost Sh800 million with Kenya’s contributing over Sh600 million. His view was shared by the Uganda minister for Works and Transport John Nasasira. “We are not here for fun or mere drama. We know that Kenya is strategically placed to serve as the transport hub for the region.” The Permanent Meeting (PM) called for the delegations from the two countries to show the will and power to undertake the project saying it will help interconnect the Eastern Africa region.
The views from other East African delegates show unity and joint effort towards the rebuilding programmes of the Uganda Railway.
The EALA, led by its speaker, Abdirahin Abdi, is holding the 3rd meeting of the 2nd assembly in Kampala from February 7 to 19.
It is expected to pass resolutions on the East African Community Tourism Bill 2008, the Election Bill 2008 and Lake Victoria Basin Commission Bill 2007.
The opening was attended by Ugandan MPs, who occupied the opposition side of the House as Museveni appealed to the EAC partners to look into the issue of energy as a major factor in the development of the region.
Additionally, the Uganda president said electricity power generation was so low that it could not sustain development in the region.
He said the US generates 14,000 kilowatts per hour, while African countries generate only 12 kilowatts per hour.
Museveni explained that Uganda faced resistance from developments partners in developing power dams. He, however, assured the country that even without foreign aid; Uganda could build its own power stations.
“We are now aiming at generating about 17,000 megawatts in the next 15 years. This will give us 3,000 kilowatts per hour,” he said.
Museveni reiterated the need to fast-track the East African federation, so that the member states have a position by 2012.
“I am glad that there is compromise on this issue, but more needs to be done to ensure it is implemented.”
He urged member states to facilitate their citizens to process their goods and add value to them before putting them on the expanded regional market that includes Southern Sudan, DR Congo and the Central African Republic.
He said Uganda had responded to the increased demand by producing more. “We got a bumper harvest of maize. As a result, prices have now come down,” he said.
“We need to deal with storage and processing of maize, so that the farmers don’t have to sell desperately at the time of plenty. This may force them to exit maize growing,” yet in the tourism sectors farmers are the major suppliers of agriculture products and if prices of the products are too low, that will lead to low production in Agriculture hence leading to low supply of Agriculture products to the tourism sector.
The ministries of finance and agriculture have devised means of how they can solve the problem in order to ensure constant supply of Agriculture products to the entire country sector. Said the president.
Abdi hailed the political leadership in the region for agreeing on the common market protocol.
He lauded Museveni for the effort to improve household incomes through modern agriculture and education.
More so, there are comments from the public listeners which can add value to the Government proposal of rebuilding the Uganda Railway and also ease travel movements for tourists from one country to the other and from one destination to the other. In terms of railway technology, the government should not go the British way but the French one. The French have the best and most efficient railway transport system in the world. For example in some cities Lyon and Marseille are connected by the TGV (High velocity trains). Marseille which is about 780 km from Paris is only 3hrs. Imagine traveling from Mombasa to Kampala at that speed? So Mr. Government is advised to get the best technology around and not be blinded by colonial fidelity. The British are "out" when it comes to trains.
This can make travel very easy and it can reduce traffic congestion since there other transport alternatives which move at the same pace like others. Therefore for any person traveling or hopping to visit East Africa, transport shouldn’t be your worry.
Norway to support Eco-Tourism sites Conservation in Uganda trough Tree planting.
It is a surprising fact that Uganda has excellent growing conditions to support commercial tree growth. With good management and the adoption of intensive silvicultural practices, growth rates can match the best in the world and timber plantations can offer a solid return on investment. This is due to the reason that Uganda has substantial areas of land suitable for timber plantations as shown by the silvicultural map of Uganda. This land is either in CFRs or is privately owned land. Long-term leases for tree planting are available in many CFRs: the first licenses for tree planting were issued by the NFA in mid 2005. Potential investors must realize, however, that the areas are more suited to pines than Eucalypts, being in hotter, drier areas
Additionally, it was estimated that on average in Uganda it will cost around Ushs1.5 M per hectare (US$ 730) to establish a plantation. This cost covers all expected costs up to canopy closure (i.e. when the trees canopies in adjacent rows touch and shade out the ground vegetation) - which is around 3 years with Pinus caribaea, 1-2 years with E. grandis. Costs will differ significantly on different sites and also depending on the supervision and level of skills of the labour. Other factors that can influence establishment costs are the scale of the planting, the level of mechanizations and the timing and frequency of key operations especially weeding. Within less than two years private planters learning quickly learning from their mistakes and they have real improved in the tree planting field.
However, due to the Uganda potential of planting trees the Norwegian Private Forest Growers (NORSKOG) has signed a partnership with the Uganda Timber Growers Association (UTGA) to support commercial timber growing with the aim of protecting forests which will conserve the natural beauty of Uganda hence promoting the Uganda’s Tourism Sector as the conservation saying goes “leave nothing, Touch nothing when you visit a destination.
The partnership was signed by NORSKOG director Arne Rora and the UTGA chairman, Robert Nabanyumya in Mpigi on Friday.
Rora said that the partnership was aimed at developing UTGA for the provision of services to the private and public sectors for sustainable management and utilization of plantation forests.
According to Nabanyumya, the association’s objective is to make quality products that are acceptable on the international market.
He also added on and said the association supplied improved seedlings to its members and lobbied for information, experience on tree growing, and advocacy for better land tenure security.
During the function, Norwegian ambassador Bjorg Leite said Uganda, being part of the global warming regions, needed to encourage more timber growers to protect forests.
“People can use this project to earn some money,” she added.
Leite lamented that more than half of Uganda’s forests had been cleared thus affecting climate, tourism and wildlife. There fore, the tourism industry is likely to benefit a lot from this partnership since it promotes conservation for eco-tourism sites like National parks and forest reserves
