UNRA establishes an emergency response unit for road damages

Aug 02, 2019

In recent months, torrential and unexpected rains have been ravaging parts of the country, cutting off many roads and damaging some.

INFRASTRUCTURE

KAMPALA - The Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) has established an emergency response unit to quickly respond to road damages caused by natural disasters.

In a press release issued on Thursday, UNRA noted that the unit will attend to occurrences of various nature on the road network.

In recent months, torrential and unexpected rains have been ravaging parts of the country, cutting off many roads and damaging some. Most significant damages have been registered in the South, West and North-Eastern parts of Uganda.

"Landslides and embankment failures have been experienced along the Fort portal- Bundibugyo Road while Busaaru-Butoogo Road in Bundibugyo district has been cut off," reads the press statement.

According to the statement, most of the roads have been restored and are now in a motor-able state while works still ongoing on others.

UNRA has now set up strategies to address future occurrences of such nature. These include carrying out emergency interventions to fix the impassable sections of the roads within 48 hours for major wash-outs and 24 hours for smaller bottlenecks that are rendering the roads impassable.

On a long term basis, the roads authority has procured new equipment and materials like armco culverts and gabions to be able to respond to these emergencies promptly.

It has also mapped out all bottleneck areas in the country and is carrying out designs and construction of adequate drainage structures on the road network in a phased manner, to comprehensively remove the localised bottlenecks that occur during the rainy season and ensure all year round safe and efficient movement of people and goods.

UNRA has, however, advised the public to avoid and keep away from flooded sections of the roads until the floods subside.

"In the meantime, we request the public to exercise patience especially in areas that have been cut off and closed off to public transport and use alternative routes for their safety," the statement further said.

The public is also encouraged to use the following toll-free lines to report road damages, 08001 00812, 08001 00811 or the WhatsApp line 0714 651187.



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