Muddy city streets leave
traders crying foul
AL-MAHDI
SSENKABIRWA
Posted
on November 30,211
KAMPALA.
After braving the potholed and muddy roads for so long, city traders have
raised a red flag on the deteriorating state of roads which say have
jeopardized their operations.
The
traders accuse Kampala Capital City Authority of failing to make regular road
maintenance –something that has made
several roads in down town Kampala impassable especially when it rains.
“All
roads have gone to the dogs and it appears like no one cares. If they(KCCA)
don’t have funds to fix them ,let them close the roads until money is got
because they are becoming a menace to
us,” said Mr Moses Ssekiranda on Sunday
after muddy waters blocked an entrance to his shop on Qualicell Bus Terminal
Arcade after a heavy down pour .
Similar
concerns were echoed by other traders
on Channel Street, Ben Kiwanuka , Kafumbe- Mukasa Road , New Taxi Park
and Old Taxi Park which have become no go areas when it rains.
Mr
Ephraim Mugisha , a shop attendant at Mukwano Arcade says
ever since KCCA poured marrum in Channel Street which connects Nakivubo
Road to Ben Kiwanuka a couple of months
ago ,clients have shunned entering his shop .He says when
cars pass ,they splatter muddy waters which later gush into his nearby shop thus soaking his
merchanise.
“Whether it rains or not, I have to move with
a pair of gumboots. Sometimes people find me in these gumboots on a sunny day
and laugh but I know what I go through,” a visibly desperate Mugisha said “They
(KCCA) are simply collecting revenue from us but they are doing nothing to
deliver the services we need,” he said Mr
Jaffer Mukasa ,who operates a store along Kafumbe -Mukasa
Road said they are preparing a petition
detailing their suffering
and if KCCA fails to address their
concerns within a month ,they will have no option but to close the road .
“
We are going to write to them (KCCA) and if they fail to respond to our cries, we shall mobilize
people to close the road ,” he said In 2009 , KCCA acquired a multi-billion
road construction equipment but they are rarely seen doing the work.
Recently,
City Executive director, Jennifer Musisi said the city has only Shs 43 billion
for roads in the current budget ,which is too little to tarmac all city roads
and a bigger portion will go on patching
potholes .Kampala has a total road network totaling to 945.5km of these
approximately 43 percent (405.5km) are tarmac and the rest are either
gravel or earth roads.
However,
majority of these roads are in a very poor state which has been exacerbated by
the ongoing in patching potholes
patching potholes torrential
rains .Recently , KCCA launched a campaign of sealing all potholes and replace
badly damaged sections with marrum as they look for funds to put tarmac ,however , the flood waters have
instead washed away the marrum thus worsening the situation .
Last
week, weather experts predicted that ongoing rains might cause devastating
floods as bad as those of 2007, which
ravaged most parts of Eastern Uganda.
Some
roads in sorry state:
Kafumbe-
Mukasa
-Channel
Street
-Old
& New Taxi parks
-Mufunya
Road
-Kamanya
Road
-Section
of Muwayire Road
-Mugongo
Road
-Ssuna
Road
-Ave
Maria Road
-Ttula
Road
-
