Blocked waterway caused Pakwach floods

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT  |  Truck drivers and members of the business community have blamed floods that devastated Pakwach yesterday, on a blocked waterway on the road connecting Pakwach to Paraa.  

A part of River Nile in Nwoya district burst its banks on Tuesday causing floods that paralyzed business and transport on the road, the main gateway to West Nile region. Hundreds of vehicles and Trucks remained stranded as the Uganda National Roads Authority-UNRA closed the adjacent Bridge.  

Joseph Mpasa, a truck driver with Trans East Company, whose truck got immersed in the floods told URN that the blockage forced excess water to find its way across the road. He explained that he was only saved from the truck by a good Samaritan, who swam and carried him on top of the truck.  

According to him, over 100 bags of maize grain he was transporting to the refugee settlement in West Nile got soaked in the water.  He says that the flood incident took travellers and locals by surprise.      

Some of the locals say that the contractor had blocked the road as well as the culverts that drain water in to River Nile valley. Speaking in both Alur and English, the locals said that the tragedy led to the destruction of food items like maize, cassava and rice which were being transported from Nwoya to Pakwach.     

David Musoke the director of MUKODA Engineering Works acknowledged that the agreed design necessitated setting a basement with stone cores which they undertook with ease after being told that November and December were dry months in West Nile in which they could freely block the drainage culverts, on Murchison Falls road.         

The road was opened this afternoon after the waterway was unblocked, and the flood waters receded to allow the smooth flow of traffic across the Bridge.

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