Residents dig channel in swamp to ease transport
Passengers disembark from a canoe at Ntooke Landing Site in Kayunga District yesterday. Residents have opted to use canoes to cross the swamp after the bridge at River Ssezibwa was washed away. PHOTO | FRED MUZAALE
Residents in Kayunga and Mukono districts have dug a channel through Ssezibwa wetland to connect to surrounding areas after government failed to construct a new bridge over River Ssezibwa.
The old bridge measuring about 60 metres was washed away by torrential rains in 2019.
Residents are now using canoes to transport their goods at Shs3,000 for a distance of about three kilometers.
The channel has two landing sites; Ntooke in Kayunga and Kikoma in Mukono District.
Mr Ronald Kasule, a resident of Kikoma village in Ntunda Sub-county, Mukono , said they dug the water channel two weeks ago after Uganda National Roads Authority (Unra) informed them that reconstruction of the bridge was not their responsibility.
“The makeshift bridge that was constructed by the community after the bridge was washed away broke down recently, so we decided to create a water channel which provides a shorter route that connects Nazigo Sub-county in Kayunga to Kikoma Village in Mukono,” Mr Kasule said on Monday.
Challenges
Mr Tom Gitta, who operates one of the canoes, said crossing in canoes is not risky since the water is shallow.
However, he revealed that their only issue is mosquitoes which bite them all the time.
Residents said the absence of a bridge is putting their lives at risk and also affecting the development of the affected areas known for banana, fruit and maize growing.
The Kayunga District chairperson, Mr Ffeffekka Sserubogo, and his Mukono counterpart the Rev Peter Bakaluba Mukasa have commended the locals for the initiative, saying they will engage the government on reconstruction of the bridge.
The Uganda National Roads Authority (Unra) spokesperson, Mr Allan Ssempebwa, recently said, there is no budget for the restoration of the bridge because it is not in their network.
Mr Ssempebwa advised Mukono District authorities to fund the construction works.
Authorities have revealed that Shs500m is needed to construct a new bridge over the river.
Ssezibwa River flows from the wetlands between Lake Victoria into Lake Kyoga in Kayunga District.
