Delayed construction of valley dam in Moroto irks MPs

Moroto, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The agricultural committee of parliament has expressed discontentment over the delayed construction of the 8 billion Shilling valley dam in Nakonyen village, Tapac sub-county, Moroto district.

The 1.5 square kilometre valley dam is being constructed through the Ministry of Agriculture as part of the strategic plan to address water challenges and improve the food value chain and commercial agriculture in Teso and Karamoja. The facility is expected to provide water for livestock and crop resources in the area.

However, the members of parliament who visited the site to assess the progress of the project said they were left in shock when they found no contractor on the ground, and no technical person to explain the progress of the project.

Committee Chairperson Janet Okori Moe told URN that parliament, allocated funds to the Ministry of Agriculture to provide water for production facilities in the nine districts across the Karamoja sub-region. However, to their dismay, the work is progressing at a slow pace yet the rainy season is approaching.

Davis Kamukama, a member of the committee observed that the contractor is taking advantage of the absence of close supervision from the government to work at his own pace.

Meanwhile, Albert Lokoru, the area Member of Parliament faulted the Ministry of Agriculture for not involving the district authorities in the project. Lokoru said it was surprising that even he, the area MP, was not informed about the dam project in his constituency and the community does not know anything concerning the ongoing development.

Lokoru notes that the delays might have also been caused by the struggle for project ownership between the two Ministries of Agriculture and the Ministry of Water.

Dodoth North MP Joseph Komol equally acknowledged that it’s always important to involve district officials whenever project money is given out to a contractor in order to ease monitoring. Komol said that projects in Karamoja can only be achieved when there is proper monitoring at the grassroots level.

But Moroto Resident District Commissioner George William Wopuwa said that although there were some wrangles about the land ownership, they have agreed with the community to allow the works to go ahead and settle the matter later. He adds that the district authorities have also been instructed to support the project.

Last year, a group of pastoralists grazing in the area attempted to stop the project, saying they were never consulted about the construction of the valley dam on the land.

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URN