Minister of works and Transport, Hon. Monica Azuba Ntege will convince members of Buganda kingdom’s Mmamba-Kakoboza clan who are accusing the Civil Aviation Authority of trying to grab their 68 acre piece of land in Entebbe town.
The Authority is caught between a rock and a hard place though the land in question belongs to them and it is part of the land earmarked for the expansion of the airport.
“We are going to engage them and see how we can come to solution where everyone is comfortable” Hon. Ntege said recently after taking a tour of the site together with other government officials from the Uganda Police, CAA, Ministry of Works and Transport among others.
The land in contention is the seat of a Buganda kingdom cultural site and is adjacent to Entebbe International Airport along the shores of Lake Victoria. In fact, the name Entebbe is derived from the chair of the head of the Mmamba clan in Buganda Kingdom.
Civil Aviation Authority says they obtained a land title from the Uganda Land Commission in 2003. Both parties are yet to come to an understanding on the matter.
Minister applauds expansion progress
The upgrading and expansion of the Entebbe Airport by China Communications and Construction Company (CCCC) is estimated at over sh713b (over $200m) and involves construction of new cargo terminal, oil firm and strengthening of aero planes runway.
Though still four years away from completion, Hon. Ntege has applauded the work that has already been done.
“The airport is one of the sites that are the faces of the country, when this project is complete it will boast tourism, economic development and also ensure that the tickets are cheaper,” she noted.
She added that although, CCCC the company is facing some challenges in the upgrading and expansion of the airport, they have managed to stay on track with the project.
“They (CCCC) are facing some difficulties but even with that, they have not slowed down and have assured me that they will be able to beat the deadline of completion”.
One of the biggest challenges the Chinese contractor is facing is the lack of enough granite that is used for the construction of the road expansion and aeroplane runways.
“There are various quarries in the country but most of them don’t have the quality of granite that we need. So, this has made us struggle and increased on our expenditure”. Zheng Biao CCCC Country Manager said.
They have covered 28 per cent of the works.
