Over the past few years there have been rapid increases in the volumes of medicines received and demanded by Health facilities across the country and it was against this background that MoH and NMS sought to expand storage capacity at the central level to manage supply chain demands.
National Medical Stores under took construction works of a modern pharmaceutical warehouse and office complex at Kajjansi site and now in final stages of completion. The new warehouse project in Kajjansi when completed will improve the storage capacity with additional 30,000 pallet locations of warehouse space, which is almost three times the current capacity at Entebbe NMS headquarters and sufficient office space for more than 200 NMS staff.
The project delivery method used was Design-build where ideas from the different staffs were consolidated into user requirements and a concept developed and then both the detailed design and construction functions were under taken by one contractor.
The scope required that the contractor delivers a GREEN BUILDING with installation of energy efficient solutions like the use of solar energy to run the building and natural light instead of artificial power consuming bulbs. This to a certain extent has been achieved and a Solar system of 300kW of energy has been installed sufficient to cover 50% of the power demands of the building.
Other key facilities which have been taken care of include;
- 2,600m3 of large volume cold room area comprising of seven cold rooms and two freezers
- Bunker storage for dangerous items/matrials
- Vehicle Garage
- Central Vaccine Workshop and store
- Board rooms and Meeting Room of capacity of 300 people at a time
- Cafeteria for all staff with a seating capacity of 300 persons at a time
- Oxygen Plant able to produce 100 cylinders per day
Other Amenities for Staff Include:
- Crèche and daycare center for kids below 2 years
- Gym for staff
- First aid room
The scope of the contract also included supply of warehouse equipment which included;
- Racking system for 30,000 location
- Four Forklifts
- Four Very Narrow Isle Trucks [less than 2 meters wide]
- Conveyor belt and gravity roller system for fine picking area.
The scope of the contract required also the contract to provide for onsite mechanical sewage treatment system given that there is no national sewage line in Kajansi and the clean water from this system will be used for the irrigation system that has been already installed at the site to keep the site green.
The facility was also fitted with a fire detection and suppression system designed suitably for the different areas of the building. Part of the fire suppression system is expected to make use of the rain water which is harvested from the building.
Most of these installation have been consolidated into the Building management system for easy monitoring of the building and other fitted gadgets like temperature, flood and humidity monitors.
A fully equipped data center was also provided plus other ICT equipment including computers, laptops and printers.
The contractor is also expected to supply all the furniture to offices and other facilities in the building and all these have been achieved at a cost of approximately 70billion Uganda shillings.
When completed the facility will be one the biggest in East Africa if not the whole of Africa.
With the completion of its 30,000-pallet warehouse located in Kajjansi Entebbe road NMS has expanded its storage capacity to manage the growing supply chain demands. The construction of the new warehouse project has gone a long way in improving Corporations storage and logistical capacity.
The corporation has also increased its fleet capacity to ensure timely deliveries of essential medicines and health supplies and continues to engage third party transport providers to ensure timely deliveries of the LLINs and other medical supplies.
NMS through its mandate continues to undertake several process improvement strategies with the vision of becoming a hub of excellence in procurement, warehousing and distribution of essential medicines and cold chain supply in the Region.
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