Suspended foot bridges driving growth in Bugisu

Construction of the suspended foot bridges in the mountainous areas of Bugisu Sub-region have reduced rural isolation among the communities and eased transportation of their agricultural produce to the market, residents have said.

Mr Philip Simiyu, an elder and a resident of Butsema Village in Butta Sub-county in Manafwa District, said before the construction of the 75 metre suspended bridge in Tongole on River Manafwa, which was commissioned on February 22, they used to live in isolation from their relatives in neighbouring communities due to long distances.

“Nowadays, I visit my people, who live on the other side of the river, but that was not possible during the previous years when we were using timber-made bridges,” Mr Simiyu, said, adding that access to services was a huge challenge then but now it’s no longer the case.

He says during the old days, the elders and children were always forbidden from crossing over using the makeshift bridges because of the violet nature of River Manafwa, which is known for washing away people’s crops, houses, bridges and at times claiming lives especially during rainy season.

Ms Janet Nabwire, 73, a resident of Bunyafu Sub-county in Sironko District, where another 90-metre suspended bridge was constructed, says they now have access to health services from neighbouring health centres.

Mr Nathan Wadenga, a resident of Bukiyende Sub-county in Mbale District, where Namakholo footbridge connects to Mbale and Bududa districts, says transporting of their producer to the market has also been made easy and also cheap.

Since 2017, government in partnership with Bridges to Prosperity (B2P), a US–based non-government organisation have so far constructed four suspended bridges in the subregion but one, which connects Sironko to Bulambuli District, is yet to be completed.

Among the footbridges constructed include Tongole, Kama and Namakholo.

The bridges, part of 11 bridges worth Shs2.5 billion, which will be constructed in the country in the span of the five years by B2P are in line with the government’s commitment to improve infrastructure development in hard to reach areas.

RESEARCH
Ms Erica Brandt, the programme manager of Suspended Cable Foot Bridge in Uganda, says the organisation carried out feasibility studies and discovered that Uganda had challenges in rural areas where communities find more difficulties to cross to other areas due to the terrain.