Africa-Press – Uganda. Karuma Township, located at the border with Oyam, Kiryandongo, and Nwoya districts, used to be a bustling area, with accommodation and restaurant services catering to truck drivers and bus passengers almost 24 hours a day.
However, the closure of the Karuma Bridge on May 6 has caused a significant decline in business activity. The bridge was closed due to its defects and for reconstruction purposes.
Heavy-duty vehicles such as lorries, buses, and trailers travelling from Kampala-Gulu or West Nile are now diverted at River Kafu via Masindi town. They then proceed to Paraa and exit onto the Pakwach-Karuma thoroughfare at Tangi gate.
For motorists travelling from Lira to Kampala, the alternative route is Lira-Dokolo-Soroti-Kumi-Pallisa-Tirinyi-Nakalama through Iganga. They can then proceed to Kampala via Jinja or vice versa from the capital Kampala.
The Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) announced that the bridge’s redevelopment project would take three months.
The Karuma Bridge is a central national asset, connecting traffic and business outside and within different parts of Uganda to the north and larger markets in South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
According to the police in Karuma Town Council, more than 300 heavy-duty automobiles, including lorries, buses, and trailers, used to drive over the 61-year-old facility every day.
However, during a spot visit on Wednesday, Karuma Township appeared deserted, with many eating places’ attendants sitting idle at balconies due to a lack of customers.
Roadside vendors selling fruits, roasted meat, chicken, maize, and cassava were chasing after small cars as they struggled to find potential customers heading to either Kampala or Gulu side.
The parking yard for heavy-duty automobiles looked deserted, while billboards advertising patient-friendly health facilities and farm inputs had almost no one to see them.
Ms Edith Kafuko, Karuma Town Clerk, said that the closure of the bridge has had a significant impact on revenue generation, livelihoods of roadside workers, and journey times.
Official data from Karuma Town Council shows that there are 20 eating places, 15 drinking places, and approximately 200 other businesses in Karuma Cell, Central Ward, located on the busy roadside opposite the Karuma Wildlife Reserve. Altogether, there are 300 shops within the entire Karuma Town Council.
“People are expressing more sadness due to the closure of the Karuma Bridge. The highway is crucial for people’s businesses, and now that it is closed, many fear they will lose money. The Town Council’s revenue is also at risk due to the bridge closure. In fact, people have already started experiencing financial struggles within a week of the bridge’s closure, and this has caused distress and concern,” Ms Kafuko told this publication in an interview Saturday.
According to Ms Kafuko, Karuma Town Council collects a monthly revenue of Shs300,000 from the local roadside workers who sell roasted chicken and goat meat. The council also receives the same amount of revenue from the vendors who sell roasted maize, cassava, soft drinks, groundnuts, and oranges to travellers.
Those who sell water and sodas pay Shs500 per day, whereas those who sell roasted chicken pay Shs1,000 as daily dues. Shop owners are required to pay operational licenses ranging from Shs80,000 to Shs90,000, depending on the size of their shops.
An agronomist working at Green Plus Agrofarm Supplies says seeds dealers in Karuma and surrounding areas are not accessing agro-inputs.
A mobile money agent who only identified herself as Ritah said before the closure of the bridge she used to earn a commission of Shs300,000 daily.
“Since this morning (Monday, May 6), I have made less than Shs3,000. What kind of life is this!” she said.
Ms Agnes Adokorach, a vendor dealing in roasted cassava, says she used to buy fresh cassava worth Shs30,000, which in turn could earn her a profit of Shs20,000 on a daily basis.
“I used to spend Shs40,000 on buying fresh cassava from my neighbours, and after roasting it usually under scorching sun and selling to travellers, I could bag a profit of Shs30,000,” said another vendor, Ms Sandra Akello.
Mr Charles Oromocan who sells roasted chicken said he hardly now sells seven roasted chicken on a daily basis.
A week ago, he could slaughter a maximum of 15 chicken, roast them and sell all to travellers plying the busy Gulu-Kampala highway.
Mr Faruk Otukene, the chairman of Karuma Taxi Owners Drivers Conductors Cooperative Society, said members are finding difficulties in feeding their families.
“Each of our members used to get at least Shs25,000 for loading passengers into buses every day but today (Monday), the loaders for buses did not make any money,” he said.
Ms Sarah Amongi, a nurse working at Life Gate Drug Shop, said the closure of the Karuma Bridge has crippled all industries.
“I used to make a lot of money by treating clients suffering from malaria, urinary tract infections and fatigue,” she said, adding that even customers for condoms are no more.
Mr Ismail Bongomin, Karuma Town Council chairman, acknowledged that the closure of the bridge has affected all residents in Karuma Cell.
Uniqueness
Ms Kafuko said Karuma is a unique place because it is hosting the Karuma Hydropower project.
“In fact, we want our place to be a tourist attraction centre. You see we are close to animals from Murchison Falls National Park, very many people come to check on Karuma Hydropower dam,” she noted.
The Karuma Falls is also awesome at Karuma Bridge along the Arua-Pakwach highway. The travellers to northern Uganda love and enjoy watching the rapid water of the Nile River running across the bridge. The white water of Karuma Falls is formed from the pressure at which the water hits the hard rocks on the floor of the river at Karuma Point.
Some buses tend to slow down at the time when crossing the bridge. This provides an opportunity for people to watch the falls plus a number of baboons and black and white monkeys.
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