As upgrading of the Masindi-Kigumba Road from gravel to bitumen nears completion, people from different walks of life in the area say the infrastructure will spur socio-economic development once other sectors of the economy are revamped.
Some taxi drivers who spoke to Kazi-njema News at Masindi- Kigumba stage are optimistic that polishing the road will ease transport costs since the infrastructure will be free from potholes that have all along been damaging their vehicles.
However, they say some motorcycle taxi riders commonly known as boda-bodas do not know the road signs.
Though motorcycle taxi riders at Pakanyi stage partly agree with the taxi drivers, they challenge the government to manage the economics of the country well so that the price of fuel can reduce.
They say even if the road is polished, as the price of fuel and motorcycles continues to rise, the riders will not make relatively good profits from their business and use the road fully respectively.
Some fear that with improvement of the road infrastructure, there could be a rise in accidents especially among school children.
Ms Pauline Bintubizi, a produce dealer at Pakanyi trading centre, says the business community there has survived dust that has been spoiling their merchandise; thanks to the upgrading of the road to bituminous standard.
She enumerates a number of benefits including construction of elegant buildings with compensation money for people who were affected by the construction of the road and the emergency of filling stations in the area.
Mr Robert Kasaija, the Pakanyi Village Chairman says highlights the advantage of the upgrading of the Masindi-Kigumba Road saying so far it has impacted on transport cost. He discloses that that transport fare from Masindi town to Pakanyi has reduced from Shs6,000 to Shs3,000.
He says with the upgrading of the road, the improvement of th socio-economic aspect of life is already evident since there is now a bus travelling from Masindi to Kampala via Kigumba.
The Pakanyi Sub-county LC 3 Chairman, Frank Asiimwe, says the construction of the Masindi-Kigumba Road has stirred development among the residents around and near the road adding that most of the people who were compensated to pave way for the construction of the road have built gorgeous houses as well as boosting their businesses.
He says the emergency of trading centres along the road has also enhanced socio-economic improvement.
However, the Masindi District Police Commander, Vincent Irama, warns all road users against over excitement; advising them to use the infrastructure in accordance with the law to avoid accidents caused especially by careless motorists and cyclists.
Construction of the 15km Masindi-Kigumba Road stretch began way back in 2017.
