Repair all collapsed bridges not just Katonga, MPs urge govt

Members of Parliament have urged the government to repair all collapsed bridges and fix all deteriorating roads in the country, not just Katonga.

They made the plea during Tuesday's plenary session where they made submissions on the poor state of roads in their respective constituencies.

Led by Speaker Anita Among, the legislators said it was important that the government does good quality work while repairing the roads.

“Truth be told, the quality of work is poor. People just want to get and eat money,” Ms Among said.

She ordered the government to provide a statement on how they are dealing with the current crisis of poor roads and collapsed bridges caused by flash floods.

Leader of Opposition in Parliament Mathias Mpuuga said he would wait for the government to give its statement and prepositions before providing his personal alternative solutions to the problem.

Mr Abed Bwanika (Kimaanya-Kabonera Division MP) said: “The route to Masaka is a connection to four nations that do trade in this country. That route connects Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda and Congo [but] right now we are cut off.”

Mr Geofrey Ssolo Kayemba (Bukomansimbi South County) said: “My issue is on the quality [of work] from the contractors. That bridge [Katonga] I think was rehabilitated in 2018 [but] as we speak now, it has been washed away.”

Mr Ronald Nsubuga (Nakawa Division East) said the government should quickly resolve the issue of poor roads because of the effect they have on lives.

“I am an accident victim. I lost my leg and it was simply because of a pothole that was in the middle of the road. Government has spent over Shs70 million to procure for me an artificial leg, therefore, it is important for us to re-think our roads,” he said.

Meanwhile, the National Unity Platform (NUP) Women’s League has asked the government to provide alternative sources of income to the business community on the Kampala-Masaka Highway, whose activities were crippled by the closure of the road due to the collapse of Katonga Bridge.

Kassanda District Woman MP Flavia Kalule said several women who were transacting business along the road, could no longer fend for their families after losing their daily incomes.

These include roadside market vendors and other stop centres such as Kayabwe (Equator) and Lukaya.

“People were surviving on the proceeds from their daily sales along the roads. Government should find out the life status of the mothers who were vending eats and drinks at Lukaya market who have now spent a week without any earnings,” she said during a press conference at the party offices Wednesday.

The Bukomansimbi North MP, Ms Christine Ndiwalana, urged the Ministry of Health to provide standby medical teams and transport means to handle emergencies in the most affected areas which do not have immediate access to the alternative routes.

On Monday, a team of legislators headed by Mr Mpuuga conducted an oversight visit to Katonga Bridge on Kampala-Masaka Highway.

After inspecting the site, Mr Mpuuga told journalists that “a lot of compromising had been done after looking at the bars of the broken bridge”.

Unra is currently repairing the bridge. The authority said the rehabilitation of the Katonga Bridge will be finalised within three weeks.

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