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Uganda: Rail Link to Mombasa Cut
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New Vision (Kampala)
12 May 2008
Posted to the web 13 May 2008
Madinah Tebajjukira, Chris Kiwawulo and Anthony Bugembe
Kampala
THE railway link to the sea port of Mombasa has been cut off by floods at Bugembe in Jinja district. The weekend heavy rains, according to Nathan Byanyima (NRM), flooded the area, making it impossible for trains from Kenya to reach Jinja and Kampala.
Although the rains had subsided, railways authorities yesterday suspended temporarily closed the railway.
Addressing journalists in Kampala, Byanyima said this could aggravate the shortage of basic commodities and fuel in Uganda.
"I call upon the Government to provide money to repair the railway. If the line is not repaired immediately, Ugandan traders will not bring in goods."
The Rift Valley Railways company manages railway services in Uganda and Kenya.
The repair of the railway had not commenced by last evening. Instead the Rift Valley Railways workers had removed sleepers to ensure they were not stolen.
Energy minister Daudi Migereko, who is the area MP, said he had asked works minister John Nasasira to get the railway repaired.
Meanwhile, floods ravaged Kampala city yesterday after a morning downpour that lasted three hours. Bwaise, Kalerwe and Katanga slums were the most affected.
On Mambule Road that joins Gayaza to Bombo Road at Bwaise, most houses and business premises were submerged, paralysing business. Happy Hours Nursery School was also affected.
A total of 32.1 millimetres of rainfall were recorded at the national meteorological centre in Entebbe, an official Fred Sebabi said. He noted that the districts of Mubende, Nakasongola, Mityana, Wakiso and Mpigi also experienced heavy rainfall. The western districts of Kabarole, Kyenjojo, Masindi and Bundibugyo also suffered heavy rains. "The entire stretch from Lake Victoria to Lake Albert experienced heavy rains," Sebabi observed.
However, the north, eastern and south-western Uganda were dry.
Several people in Kampala braved the rains that started at around 8:15am to go to work. When the rain stopped, a bumper-to-bumper traffic jam added to the misery of thousands of residents desperate to get to work.
Kawempe Division chief Nasser Takuba said the dumping of garbage into the water channels was responsible for the persistent flooding in the area.
Takuba also blamed the floods on the small culverts on the 21km Northern Bypass.
"The contractors are supposed to clean up the channels after completing construction of the bypass. They are all clogged, which interrupts the flow of rain water," Takuba observed.
The obsolete city drainage holds the biggest blame for the floods that hit different parts of the city whenever it rains.
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Works ministry spokesperson Susan Kataike recently said the city drainage needed overhaul.
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| Copyright © 2008 New Vision. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections -- or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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