Kilak South Member of Parliament, Hon. Gilbert Olanya has appealed to the government to open the Sino bridge at Karuma to small cars as an alternative route and drop cost while using Pakwach- Murchison falls via Masindi port road.
Olanya stresses out that the business community and communities in Northern Uganda are not happy at all because they are paying heavily to travel to Kampala.
He added that the community in Karuma town council has only one hospital which is across the bridge which is now hard for them to access medical support when it comes to illness.
He further stated that the minister has given directives that those travelling from Pakwach to Masindi are supposed to pay in order to use the road.
Karuma bridge which is a major link that connects Kampala and Northern Uganda at large was on Monday 23rd September 2024 closed from all traffic to allow the contractors to repair it.
The current Karuma Bridge was constructed in 1963 and has been facing safety issues for some time. The bridge lacks pedestrian lanes and monitoring equipment.