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People with disabilities in Jinja city have asked the planning authorities to consider the construction of ramps on roadsides to enable them to move freely.

Deputy city mayor Fazira Kawuma, who is also blind says with the ramps, they can access different spots of the city which, according to her is now highly congested with traffic.

Kawuma, a PWD representative in the city council, also proposed that this should be coupled with the construction of road humps to deter speeding drivers and also reduce accidents in the city.

Kawama said on Friday during a presentation about the accessibility of transport in Jinja city by Cycling Out Of Poverty Uganda (Coop-Uganda), a nonprofit organisation promoting a non-motorised transport system in the country.

“As the planning authorities incorporate non-motorised transport in the city, we expect them to also plan to build ramps for our accessibility and road humps to help PWDs access different spots in the city with reducing accidents,” she said.

Jinja, which acquired city status in 2020, is a developing city with several plans underway to elevate its mobility which is a vital factor in its development.

Marieke De Wild Monica, an engineer with COOP-Uganda, said Jinja currently has issues with accessibility and congestion, especially on streets in the city centre.

"The developing city needs to safeguard its importance by ensuring the roads are widely accessible to all people. With its growing ambitious population several jobs and facilities are coming up and this demands adequate mobility planning through introducing non-motorized transport of cycling to limit congestion, air and noise pollution caused by motor vehicles and cycles,” Marieke said.

Marieke added that cycling should be embraced given Jinja city’s plan and setting where most roads are easily accessed.

Rooting for cycling

Charles Nampendo, the physical planner, urged the communities mainly in the business centre to embrace non-motorised transport saying people need a mindset change and stop thinking it is a backward activity.

“Cycling is time-friendly, gives space to other road users and one can save in terms of fuel for car owners. This will help reduce our daily expenditure as it also helps us keep physically fit,” Nampendo said.

He explained that COOP-Uganda is working with GIZ to implement the initiative in Jinja City to be jam-free.

"We are concentrating and emphasizing motorised roads, but a group of people are not considered. They need to be helped by creating routes that are favourable to non-motorised road users. "We are ensuring that we have non-motorable routes on different roads for other road users," he said.

He noted that service delivery is delayed due to traffic congestion in the city by boda boda and motor vehicles.

Mable Asingwire, the Kiira region traffic officer said that however much we are looking at the incorporation of non-motorized transport system road users stop violating traffic regulations and signs.

"We have road signs at certain points but driver waits for police to tell them. When we intervene then you say police want money, yet we are implementing our roles and this should work hand in hand with the city authorities in cooperating better plans for all road users," she said.

Asingwire COOP-Uganda to educate and hold sensitization campaigns to drivers to save the lives of innocent individuals.

During the meeting, COOP-Uganda said a team of three officers from the city will be facilitated to travel to the Netherlands in April to benchmark the mode of transport.

They are Charles Nampendo the city's physical planner, David Eremye the city engineer, and Ernest Nabihamba the environmental officer.

The study tour is part of a project in which COOP-Uganda and Jinja City Council envision transport through a bicycle-friendly city.