Mbarara’s physical planner is approving construction plans without conducting site visits, according to the district public accounts committee. Julius Lucky, the senior physical planner, has been approving building construction plans in Bwizibwera-Rutooma town council without conducting field visits. Lucky appeared before the committee, which is chaired by Herbert Kamugisha, to follow up on audit queries in the reports for the third and fourth quarters of the 2021/22 financial year on Wednesday.
Kamugisha pointed out that the standard plot for construction in an urban setup should be 50ft by 100 ft, according to the national physical planning standards and guidelines 2011. However, he noted that construction is approved on plots less than the set measurements in Bwizibwera-Rutooma town council.
Kamugisha expressed concern about the lack of a physical development plan in the town council and the potential mess it could create when the final physical development plan is delivered. He questioned who will compensate those involved in construction with approved construction plans.
Lucky defended himself by stating that his office is limited due to the lack of facilitation and means of transport to travel to the fields, as his office is only allocated Shs 1.5 million for its operations annually. He added that his office relies on information from health inspectors in town councils to approve construction plans, who sometimes provide him with false information.
As a result, the committee requested the chief administrative officer, Edward Kasagara, to ask the physical planner to submit a report on the ongoing constructions, explaining how the plans were approved. Kasagara pleaded with the committee to summon the health inspectors of Bwizibwera- Rutooma town council, Santos Oma, and Rubindi-Ruhumba town council, Mbirabiramu Venasio to explain the anomalies in their jurisdictions.
Bwizibwera-Rutooma town council is one of three town councils that are to get physical development plans under the Uganda Support to Municipal Infrastructure Development-Additional Financing program (USIMD-AF). The others are Bwizbwera-Rutooma in Mbarara, Onyama in Gulu, and Lwasso town councils in Mbale district. The town council has not had an official physical plan since it was created in 2019.
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