Karuma Bridge was closed for rehabilitation works, the area is quickly turning into a ghost town
According to KFM’s Bill Oketch, in Karuma Town, there are dozens of lodges, eating and drinking places with no customers.
The town, approximately 2.7 kilometres by road – north of Karuma Falls – has a deserted parking yard for heavy-duty automobiles, and billboards advertising patient-friendly health facilities and farm inputs – with almost no one to see them.
Edith Kafuko, Karuma Town Clerk, said the closure of the bridge has impacted revenue generation, livelihood of roadside workers and journey times.
She says that specifically, the area where the Lira–Kamdini–Karuma Road connects to the Kampala–Karuma Road and the Karuma–Olwiyo–Pakwach–Nebbi–Arua Road, is slowly dying out after accommodation and restaurant clients in truck drivers and bus passengers were diverted on Monday.
The diversion of heavy-duty vehicles away from the defective Karuma Bridge has significantly reduced traffic volume, and further brought business to its knees on the Kampala-Gulu highway.
Police in Karuma Town Council estimate that more than 300 heavy-duty automobiles, including lorries, buses and trailers, drive over the 61-year-old facility every day.
The country’s roads agency recently announced the bridge’s redevelopment project would be undertaken within three months after its closure on May 6, 2024.
