Kampala Capital City Authority-KCCA has approved a four billion Shillings budget for the purchase of ambulances to beef up their fleet.
The authority currently has three ambulances of its own and 15 others which it is managing under the COVID-19 response plan for Kampala.
The budget was presented before the council by the Executive Secretary in charge of Finance and Administration John Mary Ssebufu.
He said that the four billion was part of the money that KCCA had returned to the consolidated fund, but the council asked the Ministry of Finance to reallocate it to the Authority to supplement its current budget.
He says the total cost of the 10 ambulances is planned at 1.5 billion Shillings. Nine of the ambulances will be staged within the nine constituencies of Kampala while one will remain at the headquarters.
The council also appropriated 500 million Shillings to manage COVID-19 responses like surveillance, risk communication, vehicle maintenance, allowance for KCCA task force workers and monitoring among others.
Another 400 million Shillings will be used to procure two mobile laboratories. These, he explained, will be vans equipped with testing materials and personnel to move to different areas in the city testing the public for COVID-19, to ease testing for those who can’t access health facilities.
KCCA has further resolved that each of the five divisions of Kampala is allocated 320 million Shillings for the purchase of Personal Protective Equipment for frontline workers, temperature monitoring machines and sanitary wear for busy public areas like markets, and the payment of allowances.
In his report however, Ssebufu indicated that KCCA had already transferred two billion Shillings to the divisions while the remaining two billion is still on the KCCA projects bank account. The meeting agreed that the money is sent back to KCCA, and only the appropriated amount should be returned to the divisions.
By URN
Do you have a story or an opinion to share? Email us on: [email protected] Or join the Daily Express WhatsApp channel for all the latest news and trends or join the Telegram Channel for the latest updates.
