Business resumes on Pakwach Bridge after water levels recede

Business resumed across Pakwach bridge yesterday morning following a day-long closure of the facility when River Tangi burst its banks in the wee hours of Saturday.

The floods, which cut off Karuma-Pakwach road, leaving several people stranded, were attributed to a downpour on Thursday and Friday.

As a result, police and UPDF soldiers were deployed at the scene to restrain hundreds of passengers and truckers who wanted to cross from both sides.

Speaking to Monitor yesterday, Ms Josephine Angucia, the West Nile regional police spokesperson, said the road was opened to the public after the water levels subsided.

“That part of the bridge, which was blocked, has been cleared. The water levels have reduced and the road is now free for vehicles and trucks to move,” Ms Angucia said.

She added that Uganda National Roads Authority (Unra) and district officials conducted an assessment at the bridge for a lasting solution to the flooding.

Mr Fred Omach Jachan, the Unra board chairperson, confirmed that they sent a  team of experts to the bridge.
“The volume is reducing and we have sent our experts, hydrologists to study [the situation] and see what can be done. We will first do the repairs and later determine what course of action to take for a permanent solution to this problem,” Mr Omach said.

He said the past box culverts installed at the area are too few and small to manage the huge water volume.
“There are about three [box culverts] and yet the volume of water is higher than what we had anticipated,” Mr Omach added.

The Resident District Commissioner, Mr Paul Eseru, told Monitor yesterday that although they did not record any cases of death or injuries, they have suspended movement of vehicles from Pakwach to Nwoya District and vice versa as they wait for the water to subside.

The water covered more than 600 metres from Pakwach bridge to Tangi River, blocking the Pakwach-Olwiyo-Karuma road, which connects West Nile to DR Congo and South Sudan. 

One of the passengers, Ms Sylvia Apio, said she missed her exams in Kampala. 
“We found the road flooded and we could not risk crossing over,” she said.

Another passenger, Mr Muhammad Ajiga, said there were early warning signs.

“I saw the water getting close to the road because of the rain. We have been stranded at Pakwach Bridge from 6am until now (10am),”  he said.

Floods cut off PAKWACH-paraa road 

The eastern part of the Murchison Falls National Park at Tangi on Pakwach-Pakuba-Paraa road was also blocked on Saturday. At about 5pm, passengers and truckers attempted to force their way through to the park at Tangi Gate to Kampala. The district chairperson, Mr Steen Omito, and the security team sought both State House and Uganda Wildlife Authority for permission to allow the passengers to pass through the park.

The Vice President, Ms Jessica Alupo, cleared them at about 7pm since Unra had temporarily ordered the closure of the road.  “Road users intending to connect to the West Nile from Kampala and Lira are advised to use Gulu-Adjumani road and connect to Laropi Ferry to Moyo, while those from Arua are advised to use the Moyo-Laropi ferry to connect to Gulu and beyond or alternatively use Paraa-Kisanja Park junction,” Unra stated in a press release. “While the water levels are still high to allow any interventions at the moment, our technical teams are monitoring the situation and have planned to intervene with an appropriate response once the water levels subside,” it added. River Tangi last burst its banks in 2019.