Travelers in panic over Fort Portal-Bundibugyo landslides
Locals look on at the section of the Fort Portal-Bundibugyo Road that was devastated by landslides on December 9, 2022. PHOTO/LONGINO MUHINDO
What you need to know:
- Since August, Bundibugyo District has lost five people to floods of which three are children aged below five years.
Travelers from Bundibugyo Town traveling to Fort Portal City were on Friday thrown into panic after they found landslides that destroyed guardrails along parts of the Fort Portal-Bundibugyo Road.
The landslides around Mutukula Cell near B2k fuel station in Bundibugyo Town Council saw travelers develop fears that the “road will be blocked.”
“Concerned authorities need to look for alternative routes when it is early to prevent vehicles from falling in the deep valley that has been created by landslides,” one of the travelers told Monitor.
Taxi driver Bosco Aheebwa said they are now driving carefully when passing at the spot to avoid danger.
“We ask the government to help us in fixing this problem because we are scared that as the rains continue, this landslides may cut off the entire road,” Mr Aheebwa noted.
The Bundibugyo Town Council engineer Richard Kisembo appealed to affected residents to remain alert while observing that some need to relocate.
According to Mr Kisembo, the landslide is as a result of the continuous rains that have been pounding the district since November 2022.
He said the district has submitted reports of the disasters to the office of the Prime Minister and Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) to no response.
“We are waiting for UNRA to come onboard and see how they can fix this problem. However, I appeal to our neighboring communities and road users to always be on alert because the soils are still sinking,” Kisembo said.
By press time, no households had been affected by the landslide but some coca gardens were devastated.
Since August, Bundibugyo District has lost five people to floods of which three are children aged below five years.
Most parts of the district are now impassable as roads and bridges have been washed away by floods.
Some of roads that have been affected include Hakitara-Busuba (5.5kms), Bundikuyali-Hakitara Road (3.6 kms), Hakitara-Kanyate Road (2.5 kms), Bundiwerume-Mbango-Humya Road (4 kms), Tokwe-Hakitara-Bundimwendi Road (6 kms), Kinyakende-Ntome Road (4 kms), Busaru-Bunyakakindo Road (3 kms), and Harugale-Buhundu Road (3 kms) among others.
