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Uganda’s roads are utterly inadequate to support the volume and weight of heavy equipment that will be needed for oil production, according to a senior manager in a major international logistics company that ships oil and gas rigs around the world.
Uganda will need to import “at least 600 truckloads of” heavy equipment, weighing up to 250 tonnes per load, the logistical expert told Oil in Uganda, adding that even along Uganda’s major highways bridges cannot support loads over 50 or 60 tonnes.
The heaviest and widest loads would travel no more than two or three kilometres a day, the company representative said.
Bottlenecks will begin “right at the border,” he said. In addition to new roads in the oil producing regions, the country’s major highways will need reinforcing.
Necessary improvements are likely to take several years, he concluded, and in the circumstances he considers 2017 an “optimistic” target for producing’ first oil.’
The logistician’s analysis echoes remarks made by Total’s General Manager in Uganda, Loic Laurandel, who stated in September that production would not begin before 2017, and would first require substantial investment in transport infrastructure.
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