Businesses bleed as city potholes keep away clients

On Bukoto Street in Kamwokya is a three-storied building, newly refurbished but largely unoccupied. A cloth banner with “To let – Contact 077…..” is displayed on the middle storey apartment.

“It may take some time and a resilient tenant to check into this building,” a tenant in the neighbourhood says. Across the same road or Lake Bunyonyi (as named by the locals) is Asiatic Sports, a sports equipment store. “We were told by the government to spread business out of the city and that is what we did by coming here. But we are losing business,” a manager at the shop says.

The state of the road has discouraged our clients from coming to this place,” he adds. What was a pothole now cuts across the entire road stretching a length of 25 metres. As you proceed to the main road is another depression of a similar magnitude. “I can’t complain. I am a foreigner. But if something were to be done, we would be happy,” Mr Ramesh adds.
The premises along the road are home to several companies and NGOs.

However their trade is no doubt on a nose dive owing to the environment they find themselves in. Huge craters full of muddy water are the welcoming, call it repulsing factor. The Daily Monitor in a pothole campaign in May carried photographs of the spot in a bid to raise concern and cause action, but three months down the road no action has been taken.

“You can imagine it has been a rainy season and just one downpour leaves our premises water logged. Clients can’t come in here. We have to make appointments to meet at Kisementi,” says Ann Odoi, an employee of City Clock Limited, a marketing and advertising firm.
This, she says, is not only resource consuming in terms of time but increases the cost of doing business. “Since your appointment is in a refreshment place, you are forced to buy a drink or lunch for a client,” Ms Odoi adds.

Pain of residents
When it rains, City Clock Limited has to hire someone to draw away the storm water; otherwise whenever a vehicle goes through the water, the overflow runs direct into the company’s premises.
A landlord who declined to be named said the rental worth of their property has been lowered by the poor condition of the road.

Other victims include Saatchi and Saatchi, Teltech Ltd, Akina Mama wa Africa, 4Zee Exclusive Fashions Software Applications Limited, ISIS WICCE among others. Many unsuspecting road users wade through ‘Lake Bunyonyi’, unaware of the depth of the pothole. Many have on occasions got stuck in the middle of the ‘lake’ after their cars have failed.

When the plight of the road users was first highlighted by Daily Monitor three months back, residents say men dug away the tar, raising hopes of a quick solution to the problem.
But yesterday Central Division chairman Godfrey Nyakaana said this was a matter those affected needed to bring to his attention.

“They should get to me instead of complaining through the media,” Mr Nyakaana said.
As people calculate the cost of doing business in the city, the state of the infrastructure ranks high. And no one knows this better than these residents of Bukoto Street.