The Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) has reiterated its commitment to ensuring that the contract for upgrading the Muyembe-Nakapiripirit Road is implemented in accordance with its terms and conditions, the project objectives are achieved and that there shall be Value for Money from this contract.
The Government of Uganda with support of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) is investing in the upgrading the 92km road to a paved bituminous standard, to improve its motorability and to facilitate growth within the region.
“Following an International Competitive Bidding process and with the no-objection from the IsDB, UNRA awarded the civil works contract for upgrading the road, to a Turkish Co., Polat Yol Yapi Sanayi Ve Ticaret A.S Hasanpasa Mah Uzuncayir Yolu, on 7th November 2019, at a contract price of UGX 399Billion,” UNRA says in a statement.
“UNRA also appointed SCET Tunisie in Joint Venture with MBW Consulting Ltd as the supervision consultant. All parties, having met the conditions of the contract preceding commencement, agreed that 30th March 2020 is the date of commencement for the project, which should be completed within a period of 36 months. The contract has a provision for mobilization of input resources as well as processing the necessary statutory clearances, among other things, to allow the contractor commence works,” UNRA adds.
Progress of the Civil Works and Key Actions
With a cumulative physical progress of works at 3% as of July 2021, UNRA says the contractor’s performance has been assessed and registered as poor by the supervision team, having not completed all the mobilization activities within the scheduled period and not commensurate to the advance payment.
“Following the notice to correct, UNRA’s project management team held a meeting with the contractor on 16 March 2021. Arising out of the meeting, the Contractor, who attributed their slow progress on the restrictions caused by the lockdown imposed due to Covid-19 pandemic, was instructed to prepare a Recovery Action Plan with clear actions and timelines on how they intend to recover the lost time.
“The Recovery Action Plan was submitted to the Employer on 15 April 2021, and shared with the IsDB. A number of key stakeholders have since raised concerns about the slow progress of the contractor and these concerns have been brought to the attention of the contractor, through a second notice.”
On 17th August 2021, the Project Management team held a stakeholders’ meeting in Nakapiripirit to address all concerns on the project.
The UNRA Project Management team was led by the Director Roads & Bridges Development, Eng. Samuel Muhoozi and the meeting was attended by Hon. Peter Lokeris, State for Minerals in the Ministry of Energy and Minerals Development plus a team of Diplomats from the Turkish Embassy in Uganda. Also in attendance were Local Government leadership and MPs from Kween, Bulambuli and Nakapiripirit Districts, representing the communities along the project.
The meeting resolved that UNRA would ensure that the contractor adheres to the agreed upon Recovery Action Plan, that would seek to recover the lost time on the project.
The Contractor was also informed of UNRA’s intention to invoke termination clauses of the contract, should they continue to default on their commitments in the Recovery Action Plan;
“UNRA committed to streamline their relationship with the new leadership in the region, sharing information and updates on the project since a number of leaders who had been engaged prior to project commencement have since left office,” the roads authority states in the statement.