The Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago has halted the process for the acquisition of land for the establishment of a waste management facility until the Kampala City Executive Committee-CEC is furnished with a comprehensive progressive report for further management.
The Kampala Capital City Authority-KCCA resolved to establish another waste management facility following the unfortunate incident that occurred at the Kiteezi dumping site on August 10th 2024 that left at least 35 people dead and 11 others missing besides the damaged and lost property worth millions of shillings.
Among the resolutions by cabinet was disbursement of Shs 16 billion from the Contingency Fund for acquisition of alternative land for establishment of a new waste management facility.
Speaking to the press at City Hall following the KCCA advert through the Authority’s Procurement and Disposal Unit inviting potential bidders to express interest for the same, he said display of bidders that have been shortlisted was to be done on September 13th but was later extended to September 18th 2024 by the KCCA Technical Wing that he blames for working in isolation of the CEC.
Lukwago says it’s unbecoming to see fights by the KCCA Councilors over a mere report related to the solid management facility yet CEC hasn’t been furnished with the progress report on the procurement process that is ongoing, hence halting the process due to lack of transparency.
His address comes after the September 17th 2024 KCCA Council sitting chaired by the Speaker Zahara Maala Luyirika which was aborted after the Lord Mayor-led City Executive Committee which was represented by the Secretary for Physical Planning, John Mary Ssebuufu refused to apologize to the Council for their failure to present a report on solid waste management to the Council.
Meanwhile, we spoke to the KCCA Deputy Executive Director, Eng. David Luyimbazi and he said the procurement process can only be halted only when there is lack of money and change in user requirements but not over mere words from politicians, hence revealing that the evaluation committee is almost finalizing with the bidders and by next week the winner will be declared.
By Olivia Nabaggala
18th Sept 2024
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