Shengli Engineering Construction Company Limited has suspended the ongoing works on Kabwoya-Kagadi-Kyenjojo road after 39 workers testing positive for the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19). The Chinese firm is undertaking the construction of the 103kilometer road at Shillings 214 billion. The road is part of the 238km Kyenjojo-Hoima-Masindi-Kigumba Road.
The company employs more than 600 workers engaged in different activities. Godwin Tashobya, the Public Relations Officer of Shengeli Engineering Construction Company said on Thursday morning that they have suspended their activities for two weeks after 39 workers tested positive for COVID-19.
Tashobya says that work will only resume once the COVID-19 situation has normalized, adding that all the workers were released on Wednesday to return to their homes.
He says the road works were to end in July because they were in the final stages to have the road handed over to the government. Lillian Ruteraho, the Kagadi Resident District Commissioner -RDC who doubles as the Kagadi district COVID-19 Taskforce chairperson, says that after the 39 workers tested positive her office gave the company a go-ahead to temporarily suspend operations for fourteen days since the disease was likely to spread to other workers.
She says by Wednesday the district had registered 85 active COVID-19 cases ever since the second wave was reported in the country. She said these include health workers, community members and employees of different companies operating in the district.
Ruteraho attributes the surge of COVID-19 cases in the district to laxity in observing the Standard Operating Procedures -SOPs.
