A driver struggling to find way through Lwera wetland where the road collapsed
Traffic flow is paralyzed along the Kampala-Masaka highway following the collapse of the road section in Lwera wetland between Mpigi and Kalungu districts.
The road collapsed last night after culverts used to fix it broke down at Kamuwunga, about four kilometers to Lukaya weighbridge towards Masaka.
Hundreds of motorists and travelers plying to and from the western route are going through nasty experiences on both sides of the road due to restricted movement of vehicles that are taking the risk of crossing using a tiny section of the road that remained.
James Muhwereza, who is among the taxi drivers that are currently stuck in the long queue on the side of Kalungu narrates that they have spent hours on the road without moving which has interfered his route to Kampala.
He blames continuous breakdowns of the Kampala-Masaka highway to poor workmanship of the contractors that were hired to fix it. Muhereza argues that the road itself has become dangerous to travelers because it has become common for it to collapse in different sections of Lwera wetland.
·Henry Kityamuweesi, another driver who has been blocked in Lwera indicates that the remaining thin section of the road cannot afford heavy trucks to cross to either sides of the highway.
He has called on Uganda National Roads Authority-UNRA engineers to swiftly fix the road to allow traffic flow to normalize, arguing that many of them can afford using the alternative route of Mpigi-Kanoni through Sembabule-Villa Maria to Masaka.
Mark Ssali, the Uganda National Roads Authority-UNRA Spokesperson, says that their technical teams are on the ground carrying out emergency repairs on the affected road section, calling upon motorists to be patient until the situation normalizes.
Notably, the Kampala-Masaka-Mbarara highway underwent major repairs in 2013 by Reynold Construction Company- RCC using about 237 billion shillings being a loan obtained from the European Union, but road has since continuously developed defects leading to interference of traffic flow.
