KAMPALA, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Uganda's Prime Minister Ruhakana Rugunda on Thursday highlighted Chinese-built infrastructure projects as major successes in helping transforming the east African country.
Rugunda was updating the country in the capital city Kampala on the progress the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party has made in implementing the Manifesto that brought it into power following the 2016 general elections.
The prime minister said, during the last three years after the elections, the Chinese-financed Isimba Hydro Power Plant was commissioned, adding 183 Megawatts of electricity to the national grid.
"Generation of reliable energy is critical to attracting investments and driving industrialization," he said.
Another project, the Chinese-constructed Karuma Hydro Power Plant would be completed by the end of this year, adding 600 Megawatts to the national grid, he added.
Rugunda said the government has mobilized money to embark on connecting all the sub counties to the national grid by 2020.
He also highlighted the China funded Entebbe-Kampala Expressway as a key project that is easing traffic flow from the country's Entebbe International Airport to the capital Kampala and surrounding areas.
Work on expansion and modernization of Entebbe International Airport to accommodate the volume of increasing traffic is also progressing well, said the prime minister.
All these projects have created employment and also enabled youths to acquire skills from Chinese experts and technicians, according to the government.
Rugunda also mentioned other projects not funded by China, like the revival of Uganda's national airline, Uganda Airlines, which are critical in fast tracking economic development.
For the last three years, the government is making steady progress to achieve the targets as set out in the manifesto, he said.
"Overall, our assessment of the implementation of the Manifesto commitments to date stands at 62 percent. We are convinced that with the momentum we have generated, we are set to achieve most of the targets in the Manifesto," he said.
