By Leonard Kamugisha Akida,
KAMAPALA
The Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) has been asked to consider diverse climate change effects experienced in the country to avoid double work and other related calamities.
The call was made by Muzeyi Faizo, the head of media and communications at UPC during a media engagement at Uganda House on Wednesday November 15.
This comes at a time when the country is thriving to manage the effects of climate change on infrastructure which include, changing weather patterns, drop in water levels, and increased frequency of extreme weather events like floods, as well as drought, whose social-economic impacts make communities very vulnerable.
A number of issues, questions relating to infrastructure planning, and climate change mitigation measures have remained unattended to. UNRA and other stakeholders such as the ministry of works and transport, ministry of disaster and preparedness have been hitherto become a subject of public condemnation over incompetence, doing shoddy works among others.
Whereas UPC acknowledges the role of UNRA in infrastructure development, Muzeyi castigated some of the shoddy works by the authority which endanger human life. He says The experience of flash floods, rising water levels on different lakes, landslides have an impact on every crucial sector of the economy.
To alleviate the effects of climate change on infrastructure and other essential sectors, Muzeyi says that proper planning is key.
“Let the reconstruction and design of roads capture the diverse climate change effects which the country and the world are experiencing to avoid double work and its related calamities,” he said
UPC further called upon stakeholders to invest heavily in preserving the environment which is under serious threat of being wiped out.
Climate change is affecting a wide variety of sectors; agriculture, water, health, and human settlements. Environment and natural resources are under threat from both natural and manmade drivers of change including; poverty, rapid population growth, unplanned urbanization, expansion of informal settlements, industrialization, and the impacts of climate change and variability among others.
