Poor roads in Nebbi delay government projects, impact local trade

Contractors have said the poor state of roads in Nebbi District is stifling completion of government projects in the area.

The contractors say they are finding difficulties in transporting materials to the sites, especially whenever it rains.

One of the affected projects is the construction of Mamba and Ndhew seed schools. The contractors fear that this would affect the timeline of completion of the projects.

The project manager of Rhema Construction Company Limited, Mr Simon Atupa, said, work on the two seed schools should have been handed over in July but this was affected by the terrain and heavy rains. 

Mr Atupa said they spend much of their time trying to remove the trucks from the mud.

“We applied for project extension periods due to some of the natural factors which affected us,” he said.

A resident of Padwot Village in Padwot Sub- County, Mr Denis Okwong, said due to the bad state of the roads in the district, trade is affected.

“Trading with Pakwach has been cut off because Kucwiny –Kikobe road that connects Nebbi with Wadelai Sub-county is no longer accessible hence affecting the livelihoods of the communities,” Mr Okwong said.

The chairperson of Kucwiny Sub-county, Mr Denise Opio, said the poor state of Padwot, Agwok Deli and Kucwiny roads is also affected expectant mothers who are finding it hard to access Mamba Health Centre III.

However, the Nebbi District chairperson, Mr Emmanuel Urombi, said the delays on the construction of seed schools is not only about the bad state of the roads but also lack of capacity by the contractor to handle multiple projects. 

He added that the district has meagre road funds of Shs197 million, making it hard to apportion the funds to all the sub-counties and town councils. 

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