Disaster that struck on the 'J&M Airport Road Hotel Apartments & Leisure Centre' with 11 dead and more injured was a shock to all! Judging by the trends in the construction sector over the past few decades even in greater Kampala under the supposed watchful eye of Kampala City Council, it was a tragedy that could have been avoided.

The inquiry team headed by a registered civil and structural engineer went on to confirm that, indeed, it was largely attributable to negligence of following right procedures, a trend observed in our article titled 'Looming Crisis in Building Construction Industry' in the Uganda Association of Consulting Engineers (UACE) Newsletter issue of September 2003, see www.uace.or.ug website. The report was handed to Government early November 2004, which has promised to take action after internalising it. In the meantime, a task force to scout for compliance to procedures will soon be sent out in the field, starting with Kampala and neighbouring districts.

Prior to the Bwebajja accident, the Uganda Association of Consulting Engineers (UACE) had expressed its concerns to responsible officers in Government, the climax of which was an audience with the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Local Government (MoLG) who was already aware of the irregularities in the sector. The Ministry of Works, Housing and Communications (MoWHC) also shares these concerns on a broader perspective, as the line ministry for activities in the industry.

These matters have precipitated the need for a review of procedures in place, adherence to their enforcement, sampling of past construction work, possible further detailed investigation should the need arise, and, determining fate of work falling short of minimum standards. In addition, any ongoing work needs to be placed in line with professional expectations, should it pass the acid tests, not to mention the importance of charting the way forward.

Delays of constructing a dam at Bujagali, downstream of the Owen Falls Power Station (OFPS), sent ripples in the planned hydropower provision plans in the country. This has been exacerbated by the low levels of water in Lake Victoria, not to mention the impact of the parallel extension of OFPS, the combined effect of which has meant that the anticipated combined output is short of expectations. Bujagali dam construction needs to be prioritized over all other potential site development in order to ensure its realization in the shortest time possible.

This now raises questions of how urgent rampant day and night outages can be tackled. Starting with the short run, renewable sources are seen as having potentially low-cost / small-scale key solutions that can be applied for even relatively low income groups. Other areas of addressing efficiency issues through further awareness campaigns, pondering power pools, and, identifying larger electricity users for agreeing load schedules are also mentioned.

Further to work discussed in our September issue, the metal sector in its infancy technological stages deserves to progress in its design criteria by adopting some modest approaches.

First and foremost, the concept of investing in research as a basis for progress and growth needs recognition. What ought to be borne in mind as the key justification for research is that, products are designed to meet user needs, situations and circumstances which vary from community to community and country to country. A simple example is tractor implements such as ploughs, which need to be suited to soil conditions. Many of our red soils for instance, are harder to till than clay soils that are to be found in many countries that manufacture implements that we import. As such, some do fall short of expectations, take for instance, problems that were faced with equipment imported from Algeria sometime in the past.

Beside research, many of our products can benefit from more quality consciousness, an essential prerequisite for 'interchangeability', a feature that would see many components made to specifications allowing selection by others for assembly in numerous instances. A case in point is in use of fasteners, where one procures a bolt or nut and uses it without difficulty. Success in attaining quality manufacture, coupled with gaining superior / creating niche markets in manufacturing to 'high value at low cost' mean that other product makers opt to purchase from you instead in what is termed 'make or buy decisions'. These concepts stretch to 'value engineering and analysis' as well as some additional features that promise to enhance local manufacture.

Following on our article on metal fabrication and practices in the September 2004 issue, we advance proposals as to how to progressively advance activities in the sub-sector starting with no external cost, through moderately increasing financial outlays. These proposals start with what existing entities can do on their own in the short-run to longer term views.

As is the case, these ideas require commitment, teamwork and synchronizing by the enterprise, associations, service providers and governments, not to mention need for a helping hand from partners in development from near and far.

To read the rest of this, and all our other articles please click here to download the complete December 2004 issue in PDF version.