Skip to main content

WE NEED A BETTER SOLUTION FOR KAMPALA TRAFFIC




I am sure I am not the only one feeling it. Kampala’s traffic is becoming increasingly unbearable. Even the removal of roundabouts around the city seem to have an opposite effect to the intended purpose of easing traffic flow in the city.

Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) has an ambitious plan of flyovers, underground tunnels and railway transport, which should help the cause, I hope.

The snarl ups that we are coming fast accustomed to, are not only an issue of teeth grinding inconvenience but have a real cost on our economy by hampering and increasing the cost of doing business.

A recent World Bank report suggests that as an economy, we are losing about sh3trillion annually due to traffic jams. The losses come in form of delayed deliveries, higher fuel consumption and the health consequences of seating in a smoke filled environment.

To put this in perspective this is the combined budget of the health, agriculture and ICT ministries in this year’s budget. Or to bring this closer to home, this money could be used to construct 4600 well equipped secondary schools.

I suspect that if a study was done, there may be a correlation between our current economic woes and the log jams on our roads. The logic is simple, the faster we can move people, goods and services around the more vibrant and productive the economy.

There is enough research to show that while improving road networks seems the obvious way to reduce traffic jams it is not effective. In fact studies show that initiatives to widen roads in cities only meant that the number of cars grew to fill up the extra space – a tendency I suspect is happening in our Kampala.

In the early 2000s several western cities including London implemented a congestion tax. The authorities charged any car driving into the city. The results have been a reduction of up to 20 percent of cars coming into the city, improvements in public transport, greater use of bicycles and more funds to invest in the city infrastructure.

I like that this plan hits several birds with one stone – more revenues for the city, improved infrastructure and public transport facilities.

From a lay man’s perspective I think we would be better served by a flyover at the Fairway cross way. At the height of peak of hour that crossing, which was previously a roundabout has people stuck there for more than half an hour.

A flyover there which could cost a few million dollars and could be paid for by a sh100 tax collected through a toll system or off our fuel over two to three years.

And a reduction in car use in Kampala would make it easier to plan an effective transport system we so badly need. Bus lanes will become practical and we can even begin to think about restricting boda bodas to the surburbs where there will be less of a menace to law abiding road users.

On an individual level, it would make our economic decisions of how we use our car ore rationale, as it would not make sense to drive into town for every small little purchase.

As it is now I have friends who do not even bother coming into the city center – never on weekdays and barely on weekends. The businesses in the city are suffering and the ramp up in commercial building space may be for nothing if current trends continue. It will be futile to collect money from these property owners. And even if the properties are attached the new owners will have no better luck.

This is a serious issue and one we should all look to find a solution sooner or later.

( JULY 2017)


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

OIL: WE NEED TO GET OUR ACT TOGETHER… YESTERDAY

(Published February, 2017) We are on the cusp of an important period in the history of this country and whether we can derive maximum advantage from this will depend on our capacity to put aside petty rivalries and come together as the business community. Over the next three years at least $20b or almost the size of the entire economy will be spent in readying us for first oil. This money will be spent on building infrastructure in the oil bearing areas of western Uganda, on our side of the oil pipeline to the Tanzanian port of Tanga, on the oil refinery and any number of things that will be needed to support oil production. About $3b (sh11trillion) was spent during the exploration phase of which less than three in every ten shillings   or about sh3trillion went to local contractors and suppliers. But this happened over eight years. This despite our local disorganisation and ignorance of the industry and its dynamics. However we should not be content with t...
Post a Comment
Read more

OUR WOMEN AMONG THE BEST ENTREPRENEURS BUT…

A study carried out in 57 countries around the world established that Ugandan women are among the most entrepreneurial in the world. The 2018 Mastercard Index of Women’s Entrepreneurship released last week showed that one in three businesses or 33.8 percent of businesses in this country belong to women. Our women were third behind their counterparts in Ghana, 44.4 percent and Russia, 34.6 percent. Survey after survey has shown that Uganda is one of the most entrepreneurial counties in the world, so it should come as little surprise that our women are among the most entrepreneurial in the world.  This does not in any way take away from their own initiative and resilience in surviving our competitive business environment. Our entrepreneurialism was forced upon us by the hard times we faced as a nation in the 1970s and 1980s, when few if any salaries could carry families through the month. For the majority of us who did not have the option of leaving the country...
Post a Comment
Read more

LET THE UN BASE SAGA BE A LESSON TO US

I have watched with much interest as the issues of the UN base in Entebbe have played out in recent days. At the beginning of the month it was reported that the UN secretary general Antonio Guterres, had signed off on a new structure, The Global Services Delivery model, that it was suggested would see Uganda losing the Regional Service Center in Entebbe (RCSE) to Nairobi. Under the new model the UN would have three key centers in Hungary, Kenya and Mexico. In response to a letter by President Yoweri Museveni, Guterres assured him that the RCSE would remain in Entebbe. Though some functions will be relocated to Nairobi in the short term, in the middle to long term he sees the role of RCSE expanding and growing in importance. The new development takes effect from 1 st July this year. According to their website the RCSE serves more than 20,000 personnel on the continent, does administration and communications support for thousands more around the world and has an...
Post a Comment
Read more

UMEME A RECOGNISED SUCCESS BUT …

  Recently the World Bank did a survey of the power utilities on the continent. Of the 39 utilities surveyed only two, in Uganda – Umeme and in Seychelles, were able to cover their operating costs and capital expenditures – maintenance and expansion of the grid. The report went on to point out that only 19 or about half of the surveyed utilities were able to meet their everyday costs like salaries. Essentially most of our power utilities on the continent are technically bankrupt. This has far reaching ramifications for the industry as a whole. When you, the client, pays your bill, Umeme then passes money up the line to pay the transmission and generation companies. If Umeme does not collect the revenues due to it or does not price the power at an appropriate rate, the pain will be felt up and down the sector. The transmission company would not be able to maintain and extend its network and the generation company would not be able to generate efficiently or build ...
Post a Comment
Read more

SOROTI FRUIT FACTORY, A POTENTIAL GAME CHANGER FOR EASTERN UGANDA

On the weekend President Yoweri Museveni commissioned the Soroti Fruit Factory, which promises to change the fortunes of fruit farmers in the Teso region. "According to reports, the factory can process 129,000 tons of fruit annually or the equivalent of 3,225 trailer loads of fruit. There are 8.2 million fruit trees in the region, if each tree produces 80kg, the 656,000 tonnes resultant production will be more than sufficient to keep the factory running well into the future. Upgrades of the plant’s capacity is foreseeable very soon.... The factory’s products – packed juices, are to be sold locally and to the region. The Teso Tropical Fruit Farmers’ Co-operative has complained that they have been receiving sh200 a kg for their produce but have seen a doubling of the price to sh500 a kg by the factory. The cooperative is a 20 percent partner in the enterprise. Government through Uganda Development Corporation (UDC) owns the remainder. The factory is a $10.2mln...
Post a Comment
Read more

HOW TO RECOGNISE A PONZI AND NOT FALL VICTIM

Another Ponzi scheme has come crashing down around the ears of hundreds of “investors”. Unsurprisingly. In its recent reincarnation poor Ugandans were lured into a scheme where they bought computer tablets. This entitled them to a monthly pay off, $100, and a Christmas bonus for their children. In this case the unsuspecting investors -cum -victims were being given a share certificate. Meaning you accept to take the part of the risk in this project. Which was inadvertently reducing their burden of risk and liability for the issuing company. I leave that area to smart lawyers to handle.   As is always the case with these things, it’s not quite clear where the pay-out will come from. A common characteristic of these schemes is that you might get initial payments before you starting missing a few and the stories begin. The promoters of these schemes or scams often use the money from the latest entrants to pay the older “investors” until one of two things happen. Either...
Post a Comment
Read more

LOCAL CONTENT IS NOT A DONE DEAL, WE NEED TO DO MORE

This year’s “Oil & Gas Convention & Regional Logistics Expo2017” has just concluded after three days of discussion, exploration and soul searching. First oil in Uganda is expected by 2020 and this Expo among other efforts are targeted at getting our local businessmen ready to take advantage of this historical development. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, the discovery and eventual exploitation of our oil resource is one of those once in a generation events, that can transform this nation, not only on a macro level but also in our individual lives. For starters at least $20b will be spent over the next three years in infrastructure development and other things that will ensure we are ready to pipe and refine our oil. During the exploration phase about $3b was spent by the international oil companies, with on three in every ten dollars being retained here. That was an exploration phase and one hopes that we have learnt enough from that period to ...
Post a Comment
Read more