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OBONGI: TUESDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2024
Vendors in Obongi main market in Obongi town council are demanding a forensic audit into the procurement and construction of a sh50 million waste management facility.
The project was awarded by the Office of the Prime Minster to Gulu University Hoima campus in response to the impact of refugee and host community activities in Obongi district.
However, there is an uproar from the beneficiaries of the project who have raised concerns over the clandestine nature of the project implementation in which they allege that local authorities failed to get access to the project details, delays in project execution, and poor quality of works among others.
According to Sebbi Mustafa Idraku, a member of Executive Committee of the Obongi Main Market Vendors Association, little has been known about the project by the vendors yet they are the main beneficiaries.
Mustafa faults the office of the Prime Minister and Gulu University officials for failure to include Obongi district local government as part of the Memorandum of Understanding saying the whole process needs to be subjected to inquiry.
Obongi Main market operates every Monday and Friday attracting vendors from Moyo, Adjumani, Arua, Yumbe and Koboko who come to transact businesses and generate a lot of garbage in the town council where the market is located.
Maneno Innocent Juma, the female councilor representing Obongi town council to the district council, said the project is overdue and needed to be handed over to the district.
Juma stressed that the waste management project came because of the hospitability of the Obongi community towards accommodating asylum seekers and refugees in Palorinya refugee settlement and therefore demanded for a benefit of the project for the community
“This is a project due to the presence of refugees in Obongi, it’s unfortunate that the project up to date has not been completed and handed over for utilization,” she complained.
Juma added: “I blame Office of the Prime Minister for the mess because they gave the money directly to Gulu University yet they were not on ground for long period of time and this is a project which is supposed to be done within two or three months.”
The Office of the Prime Minister awarded the project of four months to Gulu University Hoima Campus for the establishment of the waste management facility in Obongi Main Market. The project contractual period ended way back on June 30th, 2024 without completion of the works.
Abdullai Rangaranga, the health inspector of Obongi town council revealed that Obongi market deserved closure due to the bad odour coming from the garbage site inside the market and the marauding flies.
“The time that this project would be constructed has elapsed, we have huge challenges in managing urban wastes including those within the market. We don’t have a landfill, we don’t have equipments and financial challenges that increasing the disease burden in Obongi town council,” Rangaranga stated.
Records from the Health Inspector Obongi town council indicate that the town generates an average of 132 tons of garbage yet the local government has no landfill for waste management, and no waste management equipment including skips, wheel loaders, and trucks among others.
In September, beneficiaries of over sh650 million ecological fish pond projects awarded by the Office of the Prime Minister to Gulu University Hoima in Obongi district faulted the university for implementing ghost projects whose matter is under investigation by the inspectorate of Government.
Samuel Hashaka Mpimbaza, the Obongi Resident District Commissioner, noted that his office has again written to the Inspectorate of Government to assess the value for money in the garbage project adding that he is not satisfied with the whole process of the project implementation.
“Gulu University received money in this sh5o million project last year, and all along the money was embezzled, no work done, the former Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) could not explain when we asked for accountability,” claimed Mpimaza .
“I ordered the contractor to first bring documents including Bill of Quantities (BOQ), contract details and architectural designs before proceeding with works in a joint monitoring with the CAO, Mayor Obongi town council and other members of the staff but am surprised that these people came back secretly and commenced work when there was no groundbreaking, no BOQ, no building plan. This is a clear sign of shoddy work which they again came to implement at night secretly,” Mpimbaza added.
Currently, the facility is fenced off and access to the site is restricted, as a result the level of implementation could not be established.
When contacted for an interview, the project Administrator, Dr. Primo Adoye who is also the Senior Assistant Academic Registrar at Gulu University Hoima Campus, responded in a text message that “IGG inquiry is on, as well as the lawsuit. Lawyer’s opinion is we stay the story until we get green light at least from IGs office. But at personal level I can give you background of the issues and share you few hints. Officially not yet, please understand us.”
