By Sarah Namukisa
ENTEBBE – Entebbe road is one the busiest highways in the country, commonly used by the president, government officials, diplomats as well as private business people.
But what is surprising is that on this road, the water drainage systems on both sides is full of cabbage, tarnishing the good image of the Pearl of Africa, especially in the eyes of visitors.
Xavier Francis Musoke – the LC1 of Lufuka -Bunamwaya division in Makindye Ssabagabo Municipality, puts all this mess onto the government, saying leaders have failed to play their roles of ensuring that all drainage systems along this road are kept clean.
“Central government still has problems, because it does not do what it is supposed to be done; you need to divert the water with its rubbish, then you know where it can flow better but this shows that even the government has its weaknesses,” remarked Musoke.
Musoke added that many political bigwigs in the country cannot even spend three days without passing on this road, wondering whether none can’t observe the mess.
Barbara Nakiito the Town Clerk of Bunamwaya division, told PMLDaily that the road was under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Works and Transport.
According to Kasifah Bamsilika a shop attendant in Lufuka, UNRA has taken long without turning up to clean the water drainage systems – a situation that could easily lead to contracting diseases.
“UNRA takes months without carrying out routine cleaning of the water drainages; it is now six months without bringing a car,” said Bamsilika.
A healthy worker who preferred anonymity, expressed fears of how poor sanitation related illnesses were likely emerge from the dirty water channels, causing more harm to Ugandan are still battling it out with the global pandemic of Covid-19.
“We are living in agony because of these dirty stinking drainages; anytime we can contract dirty water related illnesses, and yet we are still fighting for our lives so that we don’t contract Covid-19,” noted the source.
Speaking to Mr. Allan Kyobe Ssempebwa, a senior communication officer of the Uganda National Road Authority –UNRA, promised to work on this matter in the near future.
“Let me engage with our maintenance team because we have a contractor, who handles such; so it’s a matter of instructing them to ensure that the channels are deflated and that water can flow; but I think also we shouldn’t disregard the behaviours of the people working around these channels, later, throw rubbish in the channels ending up blocking the drainage,” noted Ssempebwa.
