By Issa Aliga
The reopening of the Old Taxi Park, which was scheduled to take place today, has been postponed due to unavoidable issues, officials from the Kampala Capital City Authority(KCCA) said on Friday.
Recently,the authority had informed the nation that it had substantially completed the construction works to rehabilitate the 50-year-old taxi park and that it would be reopened today.
However, in the statement seen by The Homeland Newspaper, KCCA said after consultations with various stakeholders, they decided to postpone the scheduled official opening to conclude engagements with taxi operators’ leadership to ensure a smooth transition and security of all park users.
“We are pleased to inform all city dwellers that we are in the final lap of these engagements and will soon pass the baton over to the taxi operators and users at a date that will be communicated,”the statement reads.
The works on the park included excavation, installation of underground drainage lines, rock filling, and building new foundation layers for carpet and surfacing with asphalt concrete (tarmac).
The new carpet will have markings to delineate areas for parking and for taxi and pedestrian movements.
KCCA said the park boundaries will be retained properly to prevent mud from washing onto the carpet as has been the case.
There will also be lighting and waiting sheds for passengers.
The park will have designated entry and exit points for both vehicles and pedestrians and will have access control for vehicles to avoid queuing on the surrounding roads.
The authority urged the general public to be patient, adding that everything will be finalised soon.
Taxis, which were previously operated in the Old Taxi Park, are now stationed at Usafi, Kisenyi, Namirembe Road and the New Taxi Park.
