The Danish Government has donated an assortment of equipment and supplies – worth $800,000 – to Uganda has the African country prepares to resume commercial passenger flights at Entebbe International airport and track human movements along two busiest landing sites.
The Airport had been shut to curtail the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic affecting the world.
A statement revealed that the Ugandan government received the donation sometime in September 2020.
Sanusi Tejan Savage, chief of mission, International Organisation for Migration (IOM) Uganda, handed over the donation to Joy Kabatsi, minister of state for Transport.
Savage said the donation was a reply to a request by Uganda government through the UN Resident Coordinator for support toward enhancing the airport’s capacity to respond to Covid-19 challenges.
Through a fundraising call, the government of Denmark funded this project worth $800,000 (about Shs 3 billion).
Savage added that this will be additional to support already given to the airport by the UK government and the World Food Programme, and will be executed by the IOM alongside the ministries of Internal Affairs, Works and Transport, and Health and other partners.
The project codenamed ‘Strengthening surveillance and early-warning systems to control Covid-19’ will reinforce disease surveillance and prevention at points of entry. It will target Entebbe airport and Kasensero and Kyotera landing sites at the start.
It provides operational equipment for screening, laboratory operations, supplies and management of strategic information on population mobility and risk communication.