Gliding rocks cut-off major road in Bulambuli district

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | A descending rock has cut off a road connecting lower Bulambuli to the upper belt of the district.

The rocks that warped on Monday afternoon have now split into particles which are now strewn across the road at a place called Nairobi in Kamu sub-county. As a result, the entire stretch of the road from Simu through Kamu to Kaseeremu has become impassable.

This has made movement impossible for residents in the sub-counties of Kamu, Bulegeni, Kibanda, Buginyanya, Bulago and Bumwanbu, among others. Residents with non-motorized means of transport are equally struggling to navigate through the rocks.

Several others are now enduring a distant path through Kapchorwa district using the Kasereemu-Kamu road to get to either side of Bulambuli. But Andrew Wuyo and David Manana, both residents of Kamu Sub County say the only alternative route is expensive, costing them between 10,000 and 15,000 Shillings as opposed to the usual 3,000 Shillings.

Jacob Mude, a farmer in the upper Bulambuli says the blocked road is a major transit route for agricultural produce from the area to markets across the region.

85-year-old Paulina Nafuna, a resident of Kamu Town Council, one of those affected by the road, says that she has been blocked from accessing her gardens on the other side of the road.

Bulegeni Town Clerk Johnson Wafuba says that the road has been the major route that connected Bulambuli county and Elgon county. He said many institutions like health centres, schools, research centres, and markets, among other things have been cut off.

Wafuba says that there are more cracks on top of the remaining rocks which pose danger to the people who use the road and the those living below.

Bulegeni Town Council Engineer Simon Okiror says that the town council had already anticipated the rock would collapse anytime and started opening an alternative road which, however, is yet to be completed.   He wants Uganda National Roads Authority-UNRA and the Ministry of Works to expedite the works to save the people the burden of walking through Kapchorwa.

Robert Kugonza, the Maintenance Engineer at Uganda National Roads Authority-UNRA, Mbale Sub Station says that they have dispatched a team to remove the rocks from the road.

“Our team is on the ground; we have even asked people living down to evacuate so that the works can go on,” Kugonza told URN on phone.

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