FLOODS PARALYSE KALANGALA, UGANDA

Vehicles and other road users look stranded after failing to negotiate the Masaka - Bukakata road on Thursday PHOTO BY HENRY LUBULWA.  

 

By HENRY LUBULWA 

MASAKA.

Transport between Masaka and Kalangala districts has been paralysed after heavy rains washed away road culverts, bridges and a section of the road in Bukakata.
Residents told Sunday Monitor that the road is impassable with travellers spending about two or more days to reach their destinations.
Residents also said travellers, patients and traders have failed to access markets and health centres.
“Many travellers, including big vehicles with cargo, cannot access the Kalangala Ferry to connect to the Island district. Our goods are rotting,” said Mr Augustine Nsubuga, one of the traders, whose perishable goods have spent three days without reaching the Kalangala Ferry at Kachanga pier.

The floods, which have also increased water levels in Lake Victoria, have submerged many gazzetted landing sites where big boats and ferries dock.

“The road is totally in a sorry state,” he said.

“We have to make the ferry face in a direction where water is less such that passengers can easily board or disembark without falling into the lake. It is, however, risky since the ferry can easily get damaged,” said Richard Bukuwa, one of the ferry engineers.

Flooding along the lake shores comes at a time when experts warned against the increasing water levels in lakes, especially on Lake Victoria, saying they are a threat to the lakes’ eco system and breeding areas.

The tarmacking of Masaka –Bukakata road, has appeared in the National Budget for many financial years, but actual works are yet to begin. 

While campaigning in Bukoto East in February, President Museveni assured residents that the road would be upgraded by mid this year.

Docking

Banks burst: Many houses at Kachanga Landing Site have also been flooded after the lake burst its banks and the Kalangala Ferry can no longer dock properly. 
CREDIT: SUNDAY MONITOR