Kampala, (UG): President Yoweri Museveni has okayed the construction of the Airport in Kidepo Valley National Park in a move aimed at bolstering tourism in the northern horn of Uganda.
The decision came yesterday (Wednesday) during a meeting with a delegation from the Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry led by the chamber’s Board of Directors Chairman, H.E Abdallah Sultan Al Owais at State House Entebbe.
H.E Abdallah Sultan and his delegation briefed the President on the progress of the airport project which is already underway in the Karamoja subregion who gave the investors a green light but advised them to be cautious about the safety of wildlife in the park
The President also assured the Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry that they will be exempted from tax as they go about the project.
Mr Museveni further promised to mobilise the Uganda Hotel Owners Association to build Hotels in the area that will accommodate passengers who will be using the Airport.
H.E Abdallah Sultan informed the President that upon completion, the airport will have a 3,500-metre runway to accommodate aircraft like Boeing B777.
Sharjah Chamber of Commerce & Industry was established by an Amiri decree issued in 1970 by His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah to effectively and vitally participate in the organisation of economic life and the prosperity of its trade, industry, agricultural, digital and professional sectors on all levels and in cooperation with the concerned establishments and bodies and local departments.
Sharjah is the third-most populous city in the United Arab Emirates, after Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The Emirate forms part of the Dubai-Sharjah-Ajman metropolitan area.
Thursday’s meeting was also attended by Attorney General, Hon. Kiryowa Kiwanuka, the Minister of State for Works and Transport, Hon. Fred Byamukama and the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Hon. Okello Oryem.
About Kidepo Valley NP
Kidepo Valley National Park lies in the rugged, semi-arid valleys between Uganda’s borders with South Sudan in the northwest and only 5km from the eastern border of Kenya.
Located 700km from Kampala, KVNP gazetted as a national park in 1962, hosts over 77 mammal species.
Kidepo’s elephant population has surged from around 200 in the mid-1990s to between 650 and 1000 today. The African Buffalo population is now estimated at 10,000-15,000.
The Rothschild Giraffe is very notable, breeding more than 50 individuals from the bottleneck of the mid-1990s population of three and supplemented several from translocation.
The bird checklist of over 476 species with the common Ostrich, secretary bird, northern carmine bee-eater, little green bee-eater, Abyssinian scimitar bill and many more colourful and visible species.
Kidepo ranks among Africa’s finest wildernesses, according to the Uganda Wildlife Authority. From Apoka, in the heart of the park, a savannah landscape extends far beyond the gazetted area, towards horizons outlined by distant mountain ranges.
During the dry season, the only permanent water in the park is found in wetlands and remnant pools in the broad Narus Valley near Apoka. These seasonal oases, combined with the open, savannah terrain, make the Narus Valley the park’s prime game viewing location, especially with its dense populations of Lion, Buffalos, Elephant and many similar angulates.
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