Road link to boost tourism in southern districts

The road linking Uganda to the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda, which is due to be resurfaced at a cost of €24 million (US $17,634,093), is likely to boost tourism in the southwestern Ugandan region, officials said. "The EADB [East African Development Bank] has provided 85 percent of the total amount, Uganda will avail 10.3 percent, while the African Development Bank has given us a grant to finance the remaining 4.7 percent of [the] project," Nsaba Buturo, the Ugandan information minister and government spokesman, told IRIN on Monday. The 98.7-km road, he added, will run from Kabale town, about 400 km southwest of the Ugandan capital, Kampala, to Kisoro in southwest Uganda, on the border with Rwanda. Uganda’s tourism belt in the west promotes rare mountain gorillas that live in a natural habitat along the border of the three countries. The national parks in Mgahinga and Kisoro are located in Uganda, while Rwanda has the Virunga National Park. Rampant insecurity in eastern DRC had, however, discouraged many visitors from seeing the animals. In a related development, the British government agreed to support Uganda's new poverty reduction programmes with a grant of £145 million ($279,531,000) over the next three years. "This new arrangement further consolidates the strong partnership that exists between Uganda and the UK," a statement said. "It should enable Uganda to build on its track record in reducing poverty and moving towards the millennium development goals." The British government is one of Uganda’s largest bilateral donors. Since 1986, it has provided over £740 million ($1,426,572,000) in development assistance to the East African nation. It has also contributed to the humanitarian needs in northern Uganda, where 1.6-million people, displaced by an 18-year civil war, are in dire need of relief assistance. "In 2004 we provided over £9 million [$17,350,200], mainly channelled through the World Food Programme, UNICEF and the Uganda Red Cross," the statement added. "[And we are] committed to providing £1 billion [$1,927,800] of development assistance to Africa by 2005/06 to help the continent reach the millennium development goal of reducing poverty by half by 2015."