Construction of Bukasa Port starts

The government has launched the first construction phase of Bukasa Port on Lake Victoria.

The construction of the port has started with land reclamation.

Rose Mary Tibiwa, the commissioner for transport infrastructure services in the Ministry of Works and Transport said when completed, Bukasa will be the only port in Countryas Port Bell and Jinja are mere piers.

She said the port will be linked with trio-modal transport modes (water, rail, and road). It will form part of the Central Corridor  Bukasa-Mwanza-Musoma-Tanga-Dar-es-salaam, link Kisumu via Lake Victoria and Mombasa by rail.  

The one-year first phase contract was awarded to Coppieters  JV and GAUFF  consulting Engineers at a cost of Euros 14.9M.

The Port will be constructed on 400 hectares and will handle International Cargo transported by trio-modal (Ship-Rail-Road), and act as a gateway for International traffic along the Central and Northern Corridors to facilitate trade. The Port will also serve as a logistics centre for assembling, storage, and re-distribution of imports and exports.  

Apollo Kashanku, the project manager in the Ministry of Works and Transport said the majority of persons affected by the project had been compensated

"Of 1,904  PAPS, only 254 are remaining and within three months, they are expected to be sorted out," he said.

Portbell Pier

He said the entire place has been fenced off to prevent encroachers and those excavating sand and marram.

He said the major objective of developing a Port at Bukasa is to address the Country’s rapidly growing traffic demands using the Central Corridor on Lake Victoria to Kenya and Tanzania, thereby reducing over-dependence on the Northern Corridor. The port will also promote regional trade, transport corridor competition, Regional Integration, and Regional Trade. reduce traffic on the Northern Corridor, reduce road maintenance costs, and cost of doing business, and hence increase socio-economic development.  When completed, the port will improve the mobility of traffic along the Central Corridor Route, hence avoiding the natural monopoly of utilization of the Northern Corridor. 

It will also facilitate the movement of transit goods to Uganda, Southern Sudan, and the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, stimulate regional business that increases the Government of Uganda's revenue promote trade, and create employment opportunities.