The National Physical Planning Board of Uganda (NPPB) has directed the Gulu City Council to stop the issuing of licenses for the establishment of new fuel filling stations within the Central Business District (CBD).

The directive was issued by the Chairperson of the NPPB, Amanda Ngabirano, during a meeting with leaders and stakeholders in the city last week. The NPBB had earlier permitted the establishment of sixteen (16) fuel filling stations with the central business district, but the Board noted that some of the stations do not adhere to the guidelines that are supposed to be followed in the establishment.

She said the filling stations are risky in case of fire outbreaks as most of the filling stations are within a distance of one kilometre instead of the supposed three-kilometre. She advised potential investors willing to establish filling stations in the City to hold on until the controversies are solved.

She noted that most of the urban areas in the country are showing signs of “disorderly growth” because of poor utilisation of the available space for infrastructural development. She said that the unchecked stations disturb the traffic flow due to different entry and exit points for motorists.

She said, “Our country has lost much because by ignoring physical planning, we shall establish the legality of the existing filling stations in Gulu City and how they were given the greenlight to operate in already congested areas.”

Gulu City is among the newly created cities that started operation on the 1^st of July 2020. The undersecretary at the Lands ministry, Richard Juuko, said the governing laws of the newly-created cities across the country are almost completed and have reached the stage of consultation.

He said, “In the new law, compliance is a must because we are advocating for organised urban development where people can develop according to plans.”

The Deputy Mayor of Gulu Municipal Council attributed the failure to implement the resolutions of the council to the technocrats noting that the defiance is affecting the onset of the new city.

“Some of the irregularities would have been adjusted before it goes out of hand but the enforcement department is not functioning as expected,” she said.