Jonathan Odur, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Erute South, has blamed the government for ignoring warnings by experts on the impact of Karuma Dam on the Karuma Bridge, saying that the decision to ignore these warnings impacted the lifespan of the bridge.
Odur made these remarks during the parliamentary plenary session on Monday, May 6, 2024.
According to Odur, the government failed to consider certain issues when building the new dam at Karuma, and despite being informed about the status of the bridge in the 10th Parliament, no action was taken.
“There is something that the government overlooked when we were constructing the new dam at Karuma; there is reasonable suspicion that this should be investigated. According to the feasibility studies of the impact on the bridge itself, the bridge deteriorated faster, and while this was brought to the attention of the government in the 10th Parliament about the status of that bridge, no action has taken place since then,” Odur said.
The Speaker of Parliament, Anita Annet Among, asked the Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) to expedite the Karuma bridge in order to minimize the cost and time road users are encountering during the works.
“Access to the bridge will be restricted to only passenger vehicles carrying about 28 people, and alternative routes have been provided, and of course we know what it comes with, the implication of the cost, the delays, and all that. The work is being worked on, and I want to urge them to expedite the work on the road,” Among said.
She further asked for an update from the Minister of Disaster Preparedness regarding Uganda’s readiness to prevent any potential disaster in the country, in light of comparable events in Kenya and Tanzania where heavy rains have caused property destruction and fatalities.
On May 3, 2024, UNRA issued a public notice on the deterioration of the Karuma Bridge, and effective Monday, May 6, 2024, access to the bridge will be restricted to only passenger vehicles carrying about 28 people, and alternative routes were provided.
