KCCA ED HOSTS BAR OWNERS

Today, the Executive Director (ED) KCCA Dorothy Kisaka hosted Kampala’s bar owners who were headed by the executives of Legit Entertainment Bar Restaurant Association (LEBRA), an organization that represents 1,500 bars in Kampala and over 6,000 countrywide. The engagement was organized to begin a conversation to reach an amicable solution to the challenges of doing business in a livable and attractive city.

The ED expressed gratitude for the positive response by the Association.

 “We are moving comprehensively to handle the issue of trade order around the city,” the ED said, adding that the most complaints facing city authorities is noise pollution which is a result of the operations of the bars and people of faith within the 5 zones of the city.

“Our mandate as city administrators, is trade order” she said, adding that business efficiency is the hallmark of a smart city.

The Executive Director committed to ensuring that the regulations and rules governing bars and areas of entertainment were clearly defined and broadcast widely in all media and other fora. She said this could also be spread to the parish level in the Parish Development Model.

Some of the rules include those governing noise levels, which the Director Public Health guided as no more than 50 decibels for commercial operations. This was further explained as similar to the sound of a humming refrigerator or a quiet conversation.

KCCA further guided the Bar owners that sound monitoring equipment is easy to get and could also be freely downloaded from the internet to phones for easy monitoring.

In the same meeting, Tess, the chairman of LEBRA, said they were in full support of the measures to check noise pollution and pledged their cooperation with the rules and regulations in place. He requested for continued dialogue in order to resolve any challenges.

The Association also expressed full support for the ongoing decongestion campaign aimed at creating orderly workspaces saying this has increased their income and trade operations for business owners in the Central Business District.