Locals stranded after Kabarole-Kyenjojo bridge destroyed by floods
This photo taken on September 30, 2022 shows locals stranded next to the bridge that was washed away by rains two months ago. PHOTO/ALEX ASHABA
What you need to know:
- Kabarole chairperson Richard Rwabuhinga told Monitor that the district has no money to work on the bridge but said they agreed with leaders of Kyenjojo District to first establish a temporary makeshift bridge as they wait to get money from the central government.
It’s now close to a month after the bridge that connects the two districts of Kabarole and Kyenjojo in the sub counties of Hakibaale and Bugaaki was washed away by downpour leaving locals cut off from accessing social services.
Currently, the pupils who used to cross via the facility now struggle to cross the broken bridge and need support from their parents to be able to cross.
Some of the mostly affected pupils are the ones who cross the broken bridge to study at Miranga and Nyamabuga primary schools in Bugaaki Sub County, Kyenjojo District.
Shanitah Atugonza, a senior two student at Bugaaki Secondary School, said she has to first help her siblings to cross water so that they can go to school every morning.
“I reach school late because I have to first wait for my siblings to help them cross the water. I arrive at school when the first lesson is about to end,’ she told Monitor on Saturday.
Mr Clovis Kasolodeni the LC1 chairperson Nteezi I, and other residents from Nteezi II zone, said trucks that used to use the same route while transporting tea leaves to factories in Kyenjojo District stopped and people cannot cross easily when in need of health facilities.
The chairman of the Hakibaale sub-county, Mr Fred Rwitanga, said the construction of the new bridge is beyond their capacity as a sub county as he asked the central government to give them more funds for a new bridge.
“We have tried to engage the district chairperson and our MPs but nothing has been done. Government should increase our road fund budget which has has reduced from Shs12million to Shs4 million,” he noted on October 1.
Kabarole chairperson Richard Rwabuhinga told Monitor that the district has no money to work on the bridge but said they agreed with leaders of Kyenjojo District to first establish a temporary makeshift bridge as they wait to get money from the central government.
“We are appealing to Uganda Road Fund and the works ministry to bail us out,” authorities from the two districts urged.
