KAMPALA, June 27 (Xinhua) -- China and Uganda on Wednesday signed an agreement in which the Asian country will finance the upgrade of a polytechnic in the eastern part of the country that is critical to road and railway construction.
Matia Kasaija, minister of finance, planning and economic development who signed on behalf of the Ugandan government said the 155,000 U.S. dollar project will construct buildings which include classes, workshops and laboratories at Lubongi in Tororo district.
He said the project is critical in building domestic capacity to build roads and railways in the east Africa country.
He said once the capacity is built, Uganda will not have to entirely depend on foreign companies to carry out infrastructure development.
The minister said Uganda is currently undertaking a lot of road construction work using foreign companies. He noted that the country will soon start the construction of the Standard Gauge Railway.
Zheng Zhuqiang, Chinese ambassador to Uganda who signed on behalf of China said the project will improve Uganda's capacity building and provide the necessary talent pool for the country's infrastructure sector.
Bageya Waiswa, the permanent secretary of ministry of works and transport said the polytechnic is currently used to train soldiers who will be part of the technical team during the construction of the Standard Gauge Railway.
He said once the upgrade is finished, civilians will be admitted for training, forming a bulk of technicians that the country can rely on in the road and railway construction.