Rain destroys Luuka, Iganga roads
A traveller being assisted to cross a flooded section on the Iganga-Luuka road at Butimbwa village. PHOTO BY YAZID YOLISIGIRA
What you need to know:
Residents accuse their leaders of not doing much to save the situation.
Iganga. Rain last week destroyed a number of roads in Iganga and Luuka districts.
Culverts in Butimbwa village on the major road linking the two districts were washed away last week. The roads in Nakisegere and Kazigo in Irongo Sub-county have been rendered impassable for motorists.
However, the rain is good news to able-bodied men in Butimbwa village who are earning a good sum of money from carrying people crossing the flooded spots.
“The fees differ. For a single person we charge Shs500 and if he has luggage, bicycle or motorcycle we charge between Shs1,000 and Shs2,000 because we are risking our lives,” said Mr Jowali Kataba.
The residents accuse their leaders of not doing anything to address the problem and called on the Central government to intervene.
“The pressure of the water is too high and people cannot cross. The problem is with our leaders who do nothing but keep telling President Museveni that things are alright when we are suffering on the ground,” said Mr Samuel Baliraine.
Luuka District vice chairperson Esther Namugaya, however, dismissed the accusations that the authorities are not doing anything about the problem, saying the district engineering team had been dispatched to assess the magnitude of the problem and see what can be done.
the cause
In March, Luuka District leaders began lobbying the private sector to raise Shs1.2 billion to fix the district’s roads many of which are impassable.
