15.06.2016

Project start-up for Bukasa Port in Kampala

Official start of the project for planning and construction of the new Bukasa Port in Kampala was on 15 June 2016. GAUFF Engineering and her partners Inros Lackner and Duisport will now start with the basic evaluation of the project and data collection which will also encompass the geotechnical as well as maritime and topographical surveys. After evaluation of this comprehensive data, a masterplan for the new Bukasa Port will be developed and the actual preliminary planning can begin.

This was preceded by the signing of the contract of the first phase of the Bukasa Port Project in Kampala. On this occasion, the Ugandan Finance Ministry also signed a Euro 42.5 million financing agreement with the Commerzbank and AKA-Ausfuhrkreditgesellschaft (the German export credit agency). Apart from the Ugandan Minister of Finance, Hon. Matia Kasaija, and the Minister of Transport, Hon. John Byabagambi also representatives of the ministry of justice as well as the German Ambassador to Uganda Dr. Peter Blomeyer were present.

With the tri-modal Bukasa Port, a project is finally being realised that is an elementary component of the so-called central corridor. Uganda wants to ensure its quick and cheap access to the Indian Ocean from Kampala over Lake Victoria and through Tanzania. In the future, the central corridor is to serve as an alternative to the northern corridor that leads through Kenya to Mombasa.

Following the completion of the preliminary planning, GAUFF will issue a first call for tenders for construction preparatives and monitor their implementation. This encompasses building a construction and access road, fencing the future port area and erecting sheet pilings as well as draining the wetlands, where the port will be located. In this first phase of the project GAUFF in co-operation with her partners will not only be responsible for engineering, procurement and project management, but also for training the port’s administrative personnel and in further project phases for the future operation.