Downpour paralyses transport
Residents push a car that got stuck in the mud on the Nebbi-Kei road after a downpour on Monday. PHOTO BY PATRICK OKABA
NEBBI- The ever busy Nebbi-Goli road has become impassable following heavy rain that has been pounding the area.
For the last five days, the rain has disrupted the normal life with heavy trucks getting stuck on the slippery road.
Traders dealing in perishables made huge losses since they could not make it to the market in time.
Speaking to Daily Monitor on Tuesday, Mr Japyer Onega, a businessman from Congo, said the vehicle on which they were travelling got stuck in the mud and he lost some of his valuables.
Nebbi-Goli-Jukia road is undergoing construction.
“The journey has become so expensive because you also have to pay the youth helping to push the vehicle,” he said.
The Nebbi-Kei-Goli road is an alternative to the Nebbi-Jukia-Goli road leading to DR Congo and Zombo District that is under central government and has not been tarmacked for decades with unfulfilled promises.
Some youth under their umbrella “Swats for Money” said they have formed a group of 30 members to push vehicles out of the mud for a fee. The business is lucrative since each earns more than Shs100,000 in a day.
Mr Brian Alochi,a youth, said, “We were unemployed for the last three months when there was sunshine but now we are gaining even though the rain is affecting other businesses,” he said.
The district engineer, Mr James Kubi, said the road was diverted to Kei because Uganda National Roads Authority is working on Nebbi- Goli-Jukia road.
“Nebbi–Kei road was designed for light vehicles, but being the only alternative road to Zombo and DR-Congo, even heavy trucks are using it because the main road on Jukia is being worked on,” he said.
