[Ugnet] Lord Mayor Ssebaana - We Can Help

2005-03-18 Thread d b
Dear Lord Mayor Ssebaana Kizito


I’m writing to you this letter in hope that it will reach you in time. We have 
met before and I can still feel the remorse you showed when we discussed 
Kampala Urban planning problems.

Mayor, I am dismayed that after all this long in position of Lord Mayorship of 
Kampala City, our beloved capital city, the conditions ruling into the city are 
only getting worse without any hope and tangible solution to issues afflicting 
our capital city.

I am sympathetic to your own position as the Lord Mayor, since politicians are 
not in position to help you out with Kampala problems. 

Indeed that is not their problem; they have better things to worry about!

Some observations have been made and are as follow:  

- In the middle of Kisenyi we have a dissenter waiting to happen. Kisenyi long 
ago was taken over by the Somali community with a strong culture of using 
narcotic type of drug the Kati (Mairunji) To the Somalis Kati consumption is a 
culture but not for desperate and miserable Ugandan who might get addicted to 
this terrible psychotic drug.

Taxi drivers, some of them are now high on drugs if not drunker to manage 
pressure on them.

The location of Kisenyi is a soar to the entire existence of the city.  The 
situation that rules here obtains almost everywhere in Kampala and the 
surrounding suburbs: from the slums of Kansanga, Natete, Bakuli now extending 
beyond Kasubi to Wakiso, Mulago Kivulu, Kamwokya, Kitintale, Nagulu, Bwaise, 
Lungujja Kosovo etc.

Poor people are living in deplorable conditions only comparable to pigs - this 
is unbelievable. 

-   Traffic lights a very simple digital technology that would have 
mitigated some serious traffic problem on critical major city junctions has 
failed us.  Yet we have a full faculty of technology and electrical engineering 
at Makerere and Kyambogo State universities. This is a serous matter, in light 
that only Japanese money and technology can do such a trick for an entire 
nation of 24 million people.

-   The cross junction at spear motors, Jinja, Ntinda road would have been 
remodelled and expanded into a wide circular junction with two lanes on all 
sides to speed up Ntida bound motor, traffic giving way to Jinja, Mukono bound 
traffic. In fact traffic from Spear motors side, will flow smoothly towards 
Kampala without stopping and those heading to Ntida will keep a right rule 
regulation. In a worst situation there would have existed traffic lights as in 
case of Wandegeya.

-   Your Lordship, you recently categorically stated that buildings in fire 
fighting vehicles ways will be demolished, however as the city is turning into 
an unplanned built environment, your very offices have solely sanctioned that 
situation. This is circumstances not only obtain in the inner city but 
everywhere in and outside Kampala city.  What happens when Matatu old and 
NewTaxi parks were to catch fire – were is the escape route – wouldn’t it be in 
order that these parks were order unsafe, health, architectural wise etc, to 
human traffic and thus closed off long time ago?!

-   We all like development but the architectural and topographical 
morphology (landscape) of beauty of city hills is aggressively being 
undermined. All over the city, hills are being excavated at an alarming rate 
without due consideration, to the physics of Kampala topology. Such acts have 
primarily resulted into increased soil erosion and mine landslides ending up 
into the valleys and blocking waterways, at a higher cost for KCC than 
estimated. The same situation at the both hills facing Namboole sports stadium, 
Gaba, Bunga, Mutundwe- Nalukolongo Natete section, the hill facing Banda and 
Kyambongo etc. It is appalling scenery to a trained eye, yet much could be done 
to mitigate the situation at a very low cost.  

-   The recently acquired former Uganda Commercial Bank Building is being 
transformed, I hear to a residential and shopping mall facility on the once 
flower filled pavement - for goodness sake what does the physical plan of this 
particular location suggest – it is horrible to say the least, architectural 
builds of historical value can be remodelled out of place of the environment 
into which they were originally modelled.

-Many building (towers) down town facing the old tax parks though 
standing are in such a poor state that if Kampala City Council was a serious 
entity, these buildings could be condemn to closure.  Tiles are piling off 
falling down on people and some structural models are so much under stress 
putting people in real danger. Mukwano has set pace and we should take a leaf 
to learn from him, how city malls can be modelled i.e. small is beautiful and 
enough.

-   Your engineers started digging open trenches to solve flood rainwater. 
In a modern city this is a disaster not only to human and motorised traffic. 
Whenever we have torrential rains, garbage is simply carried down stream 

[Ugnet] Lord Mayor Ssebaana - We Can Help

2005-03-18 Thread d b
Please editor I ask you kindly to publish my letter.


Dear Lord Mayor Ssebaana Kizito


I’m writing to you this letter in hope that it will reach you in time. We have 
met before and I can still feel the remorse you showed when we discussed 
Kampala Urban planning problems.

Mayor, I am dismayed that after all this long in position of Lord Mayorship of 
Kampala City, our beloved capital city, the conditions ruling into the city are 
only getting worse without any hope and tangible solution to issues afflicting 
our capital city.

I am sympathetic to your own position as the Lord Mayor, since politicians are 
not in position to help you out with Kampala problems. 

Indeed that is not their problem; they have better things to worry about!

Some observations have been made and are as follow:  

- In the middle of Kisenyi we have a dissenter waiting to happen. Kisenyi long 
ago was taken over by the Somali community with a strong culture of using 
narcotic type of drug the Kati (Mairunji) To the Somalis Kati consumption is a 
culture but not for desperate and miserable Ugandan who might get addicted to 
this terrible psychotic drug.

Taxi drivers, some of them are now high on drugs if not drunker to manage 
pressure on them.

The location of Kisenyi is a soar to the entire existence of the city.  The 
situation that rules here obtains almost everywhere in Kampala and the 
surrounding suburbs: from the slums of Kansanga, Natete, Bakuli now extending 
beyond Kasubi to Wakiso, Mulago Kivulu, Kamwokya, Kitintale, Nagulu, Bwaise, 
Lungujja Kosovo etc.

Poor people are living in deplorable conditions only comparable to pigs - this 
is unbelievable. 

-   Traffic lights a very simple digital technology that would have 
mitigated some serious traffic problem on critical major city junctions has 
failed us.  Yet we have a full faculty of technology and electrical engineering 
at Makerere and Kyambogo State universities. This is a serous matter, in light 
that only Japanese money and technology can do such a trick for an entire 
nation of 24 million people.

-   The cross junction at spear motors, Jinja, Ntinda road would have been 
remodelled and expanded into a wide circular junction with two lanes on all 
sides to speed up Ntida bound motor, traffic giving way to Jinja, Mukono bound 
traffic. In fact traffic from Spear motors side, will flow smoothly towards 
Kampala without stopping and those heading to Ntida will keep a right rule 
regulation. In a worst situation there would have existed traffic lights as in 
case of Wandegeya.

-   Your Lordship, you recently categorically stated that buildings in fire 
fighting vehicles ways will be demolished, however as the city is turning into 
an unplanned built environment, your very offices have solely sanctioned that 
situation. This is circumstances not only obtain in the inner city but 
everywhere in and outside Kampala city.  What happens when Matatu old and 
NewTaxi parks were to catch fire – were is the escape route – wouldn’t it be in 
order that these parks were order unsafe, health, architectural wise etc, to 
human traffic and thus closed off long time ago?!

-   We all like development but the architectural and topographical 
morphology (landscape) of beauty of city hills is aggressively being 
undermined. All over the city, hills are being excavated at an alarming rate 
without due consideration, to the physics of Kampala topology. Such acts have 
primarily resulted into increased soil erosion and mine landslides ending up 
into the valleys and blocking waterways, at a higher cost for KCC than 
estimated. The same situation at the both hills facing Namboole sports stadium, 
Gaba, Bunga, Mutundwe- Nalukolongo Natete section, the hill facing Banda and 
Kyambongo etc. It is appalling scenery to a trained eye, yet much could be done 
to mitigate the situation at a very low cost.  

-   The recently acquired former Uganda Commercial Bank Building is being 
transformed, I hear to a residential and shopping mall facility on the once 
flower filled pavement - for goodness sake what does the physical plan of this 
particular location suggest – it is horrible to say the least, architectural 
builds of historical value can be remodelled out of place of the environment 
into which they were originally modelled.

-Many building (towers) down town facing the old tax parks though 
standing are in such a poor state that if Kampala City Council was a serious 
entity, these buildings could be condemn to closure.  Tiles are piling off 
falling down on people and some structural models are so much under stress 
putting people in real danger. Mukwano has set pace and we should take a leaf 
to learn from him, how city malls can be modelled i.e. small is beautiful and 
enough.

-   Your engineers started digging open trenches to solve flood rainwater. 
In a modern city this is a disaster not only to human and motorised traffic. 
Whenever we have t