Travelers demand new longer bridge in Pakwach

 "During rainy seasons, I only get relief after crossing Pakwach safely. In December 2019, I contracted malaria after being beaten by mosquitoes after spending a night before crossing to Pakwach,” she narrated on Tuesday after waiting for over 6 hours to cross.

“For how long will we be suffering on this road? Last time, Katonga Bridge experienced similar flooding, the government quickly secured money for its work. And here every time it rains, we cannot cross,” a visibly frustrated Acan said.

On Tuesday, the water levels rose to unprecedented levels with debris washed from the river and some disposed of on the road. Some of the culverts installed last year washed away and abandoned the Parkwach railway line left hanging.

A similar sentiment was raised by Mr Salim Ali, a traveler from Arua to Kampala who also got stuck on the road due to flooding. “We need a longer bridge constructed on this road because River Tangi now finds its way to the Nile. And so the new bridge needs to be raised higher. This problem will last long because of climate change,” he said.

The worst spot where the floods recur is about 500 meters from Pakwach Bridge. Hundreds of vehicles get stuck for hours on both sides whenever it floods.

In 2019, Conservation International estimated that over 800 million people globally are already suffering the impacts of climate change, which will endure for the next century or more due to the cumulative impact of emissions already in the atmosphere.

Wasted efforts

The district Chairperson for Pakwach, Mr Robert Omito Steen, told the Monitor that: “UNRA cannot help us. We gave them over three years to fix the problem (the Pakwach road) and they failed. I would request West Nile leaders to join hands and we engage the President directly on this matter if something is to be done.”

He added that: “The immediate intervention by UNRA is a waste with persistent flooding.”

In December 2019, several passengers traveling to and from Kampala were left stranded for over seven hours at Pakwach after River Tangi burst its banks due to flooding. River. For the past years, River Tangi has now found its way to flow into Albert Nile. Part of the flow has been interrupted by the construction work on Tangi-Pakuba-Paraa road.

Some people have criticized this because of the blockage of the waterways. It remains unclear whether this road, which connects to Paraa in the Murchison Falls Park, would be viable and resources used will not be wasted due to the continuous flooding.

Each time there is flooding, Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) is engaged in doing a postmortem in constructing a temporary culvert bridge, which some of them have been washed away by continuous flooding.

During a site visit by the UNRA Executive Director, Ms Allen Kagina in September last year, she proposed that there was a need for redesigning of the Pakwach Bridge as a mechanism to avert further floods.

And similarly, in April this year, the Minister for Works and Transport, Gen Katumba Wamala said that the government considers constructing a new Pakwach Bridge on the Albert Nile. He said the plan will be implemented once funding is secured. But he did not indicate when that would be.

Parts of Uganda have this year experienced unprecedented rainfall that also returned late after a long dry spell.