A new bridge in Kyenjojo district which was constructed two months ago has been severely damaged by heavy rains. This bridge is a crossing connection between sub counties of Katooke and Kyarusozi, across the Aswa swamp and its construction cost about shs95m.
One of the locals in this area stated that the bridge began breaking apart on Saturday and fallen down completely by Tuesday when all its culverts were carried away by running water.
“The bridge was a significant route which helped them connect to the two Sub Counties timely,” Geoffrey Businge a resident in the area said. He added that other routes like Kyenjojo-Rugombe-Kyarusozi are costly and take a lot of time.
A farmer in the area Mugisha Robert said many of them stopped working because they cannot approach the farms or even move their agricultural produce to the markets. He also believes that the work was of poor quality according to the small size of culverts and the fact that soil was used to seal the road instead of concrete.
Travellers were using between 15000 and 20000 shillings to reach Katooke Sub County by Wednesday.
William Kaija chairperson of Kyenjojo District was surprised by the destruction and he admitted that smaller culverts were used due to financial constraints. He also added that the bridge was under construction and they did not have the big culverts that were needed yet they had shs95m which was less for the standard they would have wanted.
Samuel Kaija Ruhweza the district Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) said that he has already assigned the district engineer to make a report concerning the incident.
