The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Kampala Capital City Authority-KCCA needs about sh9 billion for the house numbering project.
In 2016, KCCA started mass numbering of all properties in Kampala and so far, over 356,947 houses have been numbered.
However, according to the Geographic Information System (GIS) analyst of KCCA Flavia Zabali Musisi, less than 95,000 numbered houses have received number plates. Of these, 500 are in informal settings like parts of Kamwokya while 94,000 are in central region on Kampala Road and parts of Bombo road especially Wandegeya.
The plan is to install number plates on all houses in the city. However, Musisi says KCCA lacks necessary finances to fund the project. She says KCCA is still in discussions on whether property owners should be asked to foot bills for installation of the plates or the authority looks for money to facilitate the project.
Musisi says it cost them at least 25,000 shillings to install each of the plates in the covered areas.
House numbering is part of the city address model by KCCA. The model includes road naming and installation of signage on roads. Houses are numbered using the plot system.
Musisi says that with proper house numbering and road naming one can easily find their way to a house using house numbers. Musisi says plot numbers are not an efficient address system because not all houses have plot numbers since some plots even have more than one house.
Kato a forex bureau broker at King Fahad Plaza says that house numbering has helped in the address system in Kampala. He says that customer can easily be directed to house with number.
Asked about footing the bill, Kato said property owners especially those running commercial buildings should pay for the number plates because it helps easy location of their premises.
Sharifa Nantongo, a tailor in Wandegeya says that the plate numbers have not helped her because people are used to other marks like building and petrol stations. She says the number could also make more sense if they are added to online maps.
Nantongo also says people are not informed about the plates. URN has also found that a number of people with house number plates were not sensitized about the relevance of the plates and how they can use them to their advantage. A number of them still confuse house numbers for plot numbers.
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