{"id":7744,"date":"2021-04-05T17:23:52","date_gmt":"2021-04-05T17:23:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/?p=7744"},"modified":"2021-04-05T16:38:07","modified_gmt":"2021-04-05T16:38:07","slug":"old-bridges-become-death-traps-in-teso","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/old-bridges-become-death-traps-in-teso","title":{"rendered":"Old bridges become death traps in Teso"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press<\/a> – Uganda<\/a>. <\/strong><\/span>Leaders in Teso Sub-region have appealed to government to fix the worn-out bridges in the area, saying they are continuously claiming lives.<\/p>\n

Most of the bridges in Katakwi, Kapelebyong, Kalaki and Bukedea districts were weakened at the peak of floods that hit the sub-region last year.<\/p>\n

But leaders say government has not yet fixed them and they fear the situation will get worse as the rainy season sets in.<\/p>\n

Mr Gerald Okolong, the chairperson of Odelo Village in Ngariam Sub-county, Katakwi District, told Daily Monitor last Friday that Otur Bridge, which claimed two brothers; John Michael Etukoit, 21, and Joseph Akotoi 19, last year remains unrepaired.<\/p>\n

Mr Okolong added that Mr Albert Bwire, a businessman, on August 18, 2020, was injured and also lost his bag containing Shs3m after he fell into the same bridge.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt means we have to brace ourselves for a repeat of last year\u2019s mayhem on the same bridge that connects Ngariam to Toroma and Magoro sub-counties,\u201d Mr Odelo said in an interview.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs Ngariam leaders, the district is in receipt of our petitions in regard to the state of local bridges. We wait to see when they will act upon them now that rains for 2021 are returning,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

However, Mr Seraphine Alia, the chief administrative officer (CAO) for Katakwi District, told this newspaper that there is goodwill on the side of the district to work on the worn out bridges but they lack funds.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe situation is that some of these rural bridges under the district vote are so wide that if we are to put resources towards repairing them, we would have to halt all district projects for a couple of years, meaning the health education and water sectors would have to be suspended for five years,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Mr Alia suggested that the Uganda National Roads Authority (Unra) takes over the wide rural bridges, which cannot be maintained by local governments.<\/p>\n

Mr James Omairo, an NRM mobiliser for Acinga in Kapelebyong District, said last year, the old Acinga Bridge, which was swept away by floods in 2017, claimed lives of Peter Ebicu, Paul Okello. He added that the one in Ajeleik, which is under Unra, has been weakened by massive floods but has never been fixed.<\/p>\n

Mr Francis Akorikin, the chairperson-elect for Kapelebyong District, claimed that Ajeleik, Acinga, Alito, Angica and Tukum bridges are meant to be worked on by Unra, which has not been the cases. He explained that some of these bridges have taken years without being worked on despite being included in the budget for the last seven years. \u201cI suspect some of these bridges such as Ajeleik are projects for making money by some illicit personalities,\u201d he said, without substantiating the claims.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are happy Acinga, Ajeleik, Angica are reflected in the NRM manifesto, but that is not enough, we need to see an end to the misery locals, who use these worn out bridges for accessibility, face,\u201d Mr Akorikin said.<\/p>\n

The chairperson-elect further explained that the worn-out bridges have curtailed service delivery in the area for many years.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe misery which these worn-out bridges is not just restricted to movement; mothers have suffered the worst brunt in the new sub county of Acinga; others have died during delivery. They can\u2019t access health facilities because they become permanently cut off when the bridge is submerged by water,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

Appeal by residents<\/b><\/p>\n

Mr Faustino Osuswan, a resident, said in 2019, his son was involved in an accident at the collapsed Amoroto Bridge that connects Kidongole Sub-county in Bukedea to Butebo District. He added that his son is now using a wheelchair after suffering a damaged spine.<\/p>\n

Mr Moses Olemukan, the Bukedea District chairperson, said Amoroto Bridge was worked on but the works were not substantial.Mr Olemukan added that most bridges in the area are worn out, appealing to the central government for more financing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe burden as a district is that we don\u2019t have enough finances, otherwise if we had, we wouldn\u2019t continue lamenting to the centre; we would prequalify firms to construct them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese areas are low-lying that are exposed to water from the higher rangers of Bulambuli and Bugisu areas,\u201d Mr Olemukan explained.In 2019, at the height of erosion of several bridges across the country by heavy rain, the government allocated more than Sh500b to have them fixed. However, those in Teso are still in a bad state.<\/p>\n

In 2018, an NRM party youth mobiliser in Kalaki District, Simon Obonya, died after falling into a flooded bridge in Bululu-Kaberamaido Town Council.To date, a big part of Bululu-Kaberamaido Town Council remains cut off as a result of rising water levels on Lake Kyoga.<\/p>\n

Mr Allan Ssempebwa, the media relations manager at Unra, said, most of the worn out bridges in Teso are not under Unra network.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe, however, extended boats for use in those areas where we are not mandated as Unra to work on them,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

On Toroma road, he said, box culverts have been fixed, and maintenance work done, making the stretch motorable.<\/p>\n

Mr Ssempebwa added that they have planned for more maintenance works on some of the bridges and roads under their mandate within Teso in the next financial year.<\/p>\n

He also explained that calls for them to take over some rural roads is not only limited to Teso, but explained that they are constrained by funds.<\/p>\n

Most affected<\/b><\/p>\n

Most of the bridges in Katakwi, Kapelebyong, Kalaki and Bukedea districts were weakened at the peak of floods that hit the sub-region last year.<\/p>\n

But leaders say government has not yet fixed them yet as the rainy season set in, they fear the situation will get worse.editorial@ug.nationmedia.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Uganda. Leaders in Teso Sub-region have appealed to government to fix the worn-out bridges in the area, saying they are continuously claiming lives. Most of the bridges in Katakwi, Kapelebyong, Kalaki and Bukedea districts were weakened at the peak of floods that hit the sub-region last year. But leaders say government has not […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":7743,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3,8],"tags":[233,240,234],"class_list":["post-7744","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-community","category-homepage-english","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-uganda","tag-uganda"],"yoast_head":"\nOld bridges become death traps in Teso - Uganda<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Leaders in Teso Sub-region have appealed to government to fix the worn-out bridges in the area, saying they are continuo ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/old-bridges-become-death-traps-in-teso\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Old bridges become death traps in Teso\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Leaders in Teso Sub-region have appealed to government to fix the worn-out bridges in the area, saying they are continuo ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/old-bridges-become-death-traps-in-teso\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Uganda\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-04-05T17:23:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2021\/04\/img-606b3cce515f3.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"480\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/old-bridges-become-death-traps-in-teso#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/old-bridges-become-death-traps-in-teso\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Old bridges become death traps in Teso\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-04-05T17:23:52+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/old-bridges-become-death-traps-in-teso\"},\"wordCount\":960,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/old-bridges-become-death-traps-in-teso#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2021\/04\/img-606b3cce515f3.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Uganda\",\"uganda\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"community\",\"homepage-english\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/old-bridges-become-death-traps-in-teso#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/old-bridges-become-death-traps-in-teso\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/old-bridges-become-death-traps-in-teso\",\"name\":\"Old bridges become death traps in Teso - 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