By Prosper Gibolo
HMK Bus Company Ltd, which has been operating on the Kotido-Lira route since 2020, has temporarily suspended its operations on Kotido-Lira routes due to poor road conditions.
The ongoing heavy rains which started in early June have rendered several roads in Karamoja impassable.
Kotido-Soroti road, also known as the Soroti–Amuria–Abim–Kotido road which is approximately 192 kilometers, Kotido-Abim-Otuke-Aloi-Lira Road and Moroto-Kotido road, are among the roads currently in bad shape.
Motorists are forced spend several hours maneuvering through flooded and slippery roads.
This has often led to buses and heavy-duty vehicles getting stuck at bad spots causing passengers to spend long hours reaching their final destinations.
Passengers traveling from Kotido to other regions have to spend more hours on the way as drivers maneuver the roads at slow speeds.
Travelers going to Lira from Kotido spend about 7 hours on the way instead of the usual 3 hours on the 194 km distance while those travelling to Kaabong from Kotido spend 4 hours on a distance of 66 km that could last 1 and a half hours.
Similarly, the Kotido-Moroto Road is cumbersome with potholes over the 107 km road stretch.
Abdullah Okello, the manager HMK Bus Company Ltd., who also doubles as the chairperson Kotido district Drivers Association, says that the company was overwhelmed by the losses resulting from the frequent repairs of its buses because of the bad road.
He notes that several of their buses are grounded because of the poor state of the road network in Karamoja.
Cue Okello on suspended eng/ateso.
Also Read:https://radioetoil.com/heavy-rains-wreak-havoc-on-karamojas-road-network/
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