A bodaboda rider attempts to cross the stream by ridding through the water. Photo by Godwin Abedican.

By Godwin Abedican

Arua

The community of Amureva village, Ringili parish in Vurra sub county Arua district are crying for government intervention towards rescuing lives due to lack of a bridge on Ozukuva stream.

This stream located in Ringili village lies on the main pathway through which the community accesses, Kuluva hospital, Ushindi secondary school, Ringili primary school and markets.

According to Acidri Jackson the former lc1 chairperson, they have been directing their need for a bridge to be constructed to the leaders of Arua district but no one seems to be bothering

“During rainy season its terrible for us here. At least during dry season, we try crossing through the water. It’s around 16 to 17 years since the last bridge constructed by whites from Kuluva Hospital collapsed but to date no efforts have been made towards ensuring the bridge is re-constructed,” he recounted.

Omuko Agnes, the women league leader in the area regrets what mothers go through while attempting to cross the stream. ”Our situation at Amureva here is terrible. We have been crying to the sub county because of this bridge. They come here with the MPs but no follow-up is done. Elections are approaching again and they will come to deceive us. After the elections, none of them will step here. It is more difficult for pregnant women because we are always forced to lift expectant mothers in beds to cross through the water if the alternative of using motorcycles fail,” she explained.

Meanwhile, Vincent Odi, a youth in the area relates the poor education levels in the area to this huge challenge that the district leadership has been and continues to comfortably watch without any lasting way forward. “After the collapse of the previous bridge years back, nothing has been done. Putting up this bridge needs a lot of money. They are talking of culverts, the culverts they gave are very small for that place. That place needs big culverts.  Currently, if you are a child who has not reached 17 or 16 years where you can be able to cross a flooded stream, whether you like it or not there is no education for you. But at that age no child can join primary one. This has made the education levels in our area to remain low. When it comes to sickness, if one doesn’t have the money to travel up to Ushidi and via odia to connect to kuluva hospital which is less than a kilometer, if the bridge was constructed, then he or she has to prepare to bury the beloved one,” Odi explained painfully.

On Monday October 14, 2024, the management of Kuluva hospital as a way of maintaining the road graded the road up to the hospital hydro power plant but could not put up a bridge since it’s the responsibility of the government

Alfred Okuonzi, the Arua district chairperson calls upon the community to learn community initiatives than always expecting from the government. “We even informed the management of Kuluva hospital and Ushindi secondary school. We told them to fix the culverts. For us as a district, we are thinking of instead planning to install a box culvert at that spot and also opening another road that gets out at Malaika factory from Ushindi side, not necessarily via Kuluva hospital. These are long term plans. Government things don’t take place overnight. We need to give them time and it starts from the community. These people needed to organize themselves and bolt the culverts we gave them and then put on the road. That road is not a district road, it is a community road,” Okuonzi responded.

The chairperson added that this is not the only community that has had challenges but others willingly accepted their proposals for local resource mobilization and are now reaping the benefits. “The people of Ewuata organized themselves and requested for culverts for crossing to Ayinimva, we brought them and they put it on their own, Lumara people have also done the same, they are now using their culverts.  We need community initiatives because everything in Local Government goes to plan and the plan is based on the resource envelope. When the resource envelope is not there, there is no way you can do a miracle and yet people are suffering. You can’t say you are going to divert resources from one place to take there, no, in the local government it doesn’t work like that,” he stressed.

One and a half years ago, Arua district delivered metallic culverts of 1800mm at Ushindi secondary school that were meant to be installed on the stream to ease accessibility but till now, the culverts are laying idle without installation.