Residents argue that the repair is going to cause damages to their plantations, houses and burial sites, and therefore should be compensated before the repairs start.
Kabonero Sub County in Bunyangabu District has suspended the planned repair of a 2.5km Katosa – Kinyampanika road due to compensation demands by residents.
The road, which connects Bukara parish to the Rwenzori Mountain national park, is also a security and production road. It was budgeted to cost shillings 7 million.
However, residents argue that the repair is going to cause damages to their plantations, houses and burial sites, and therefore should be compensated before repairs start.
Mule Jocas, a resident of Kinyampanika zone says that he has food crop gardens close to the road and is afraid that during the grading they will be destroyed, leaving him to starve.
He says he will not allow the grading until he is duly compensated because the land belongs to him and not the Sub County.
“I’m asking the government to send a valuer to ascertain the impact of the project on people’s livelihoods and effect compensation if they want the project to succeed,” Jocas says.
Immaculate Aineya, also a resident of Kabonero, notes that the planned repair would see the road pass through their graveyard, adding that this would tantamount to disturbing the peace of her deceased relatives because the Sub County has no plans of relocating it.
However, the Kinyampanika zone chairperson, James Makombe, says the residents would have dropped their interests for the sake of having the road that is in a bad state repaired and widened.
“This road is important to everyone including farmers who use it to transport their agricultural produce to markets in and around Bunyangabu,” Makombe explains.
The Kabonero LC III Chairperson, John Kyaligonza, says that as a Sub County they do not have the budget for compensation and appealed to residents to welcome the project since it is meant to benefit them.
He further explains that if the compensation demands are not dropped, the money will be used to repair Kitegya – Bukara road in the same area.
Story by
Cristopher Tusiime
Edward Kyaligonza
