The Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) has expressed worry that the ongoing construction works at the Kabale-Kisoro Road which was recently damaged by landslides might be hindered by the continued traffic on the same road.
According to officials at Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA), Kabale station, construction works are underway in high gear at Hamurwa town council following the collapse due to recent mudslides.
Allison Abenawe, the UNRA Kabale station manager, had revealed to us that the repair works would last for about 3 weeks if the motorists were completely restricted from using the same route.
However, on 6th of this month, the state minister for Works Musa Ecweru while on his visit to assess the damage, directed UNRA to reopen the road for essential traffic, especially trucks carrying goods to the democratic republic of Congo and Rwanda.
UNRA on 4th of this month also released a statement advising motorists to use the Kabale-Katuna-Rubaya-Muko road (88km) to access Kisoro. Another route that the travelers were advised to consider is the Kabale-Lake Bunyonyi-Kacwekano-Kagarama-Heisesero route (20 km) on their way to Kisoro.
After the minister’s directive, motorists abandoned the alternative routes that had been suggested by UNRA and embarked on reusing the road that is currently under rehabilitation.
The UNRA spokesperson Allan Ssempebwa, in a phone interview with our reporter, said that construction works are ongoing steadily, but motorists need to use the alternative routes that were initially suggested by the Authority. Ssempebwa added that they had proposed alternative routes to facilitate safer movement of vehicles and quicker work of their teams.
However, the Rubanda district LC5 Chairman, Stephen Ampeire Kasyaba, says that the alternative routes that were earlier suggested by UNRA are in bad shape that cannot allow easy flow of traffic.
He called on the central government to properly facilitate districts to ensure that they rehabilitate community access roads that will act as alternative routes in case similar challenges hit in the future. He also asked UNRA to strongly concentrate on improving the drainage system of the same route since it is currently in a dire state.
Kigezi sub-region is among the areas in Uganda that were badly affected by the recent landslides and floods following heavy rains at the start of this month. About 20 people lost their lives and most roads were left impassable. The same disasters saw immense property destruction registered.
