Lives of Ugandans who travel by the Kalangala Infrastructure Services Ltd -operated MV-Ssesse ferry are in great danger after the docking piers at Bugoma and Bukakata were submerged following the rising water levels of Lake Victoria.
Agonizing travelers are now forced to remove their shoes and other personal effects as they wade through the high water levels to board the ferry -the only means of transport connecting the mainland to Kalangala district.
Terrified travelers -some carrying children are forced to brave the rising water to get to the ferry as KIS ferry attendants look on helplessly . Travelers have now called upon KIS and their supervisors at Uganda National Road Authority (UNRA) or the Ministry of Works and Transport to provide a raised footbridge to avoid any possible fatal accidents .
“ No one seems to care about this worsening situation . You cant have travelers remove their shoes and walk in water simply because they have to board the ferry the only means of transport available to and from Kalangala.
URNA and Kalangala Infrastructure Services Ltd must address this problem without waiting for travelers to complain . It’s a pity that the managers of our public services don’t care about people’s lives ,” a traveler who declined to be named told this publication . The boarding yard at Bukakata is also flooded and nothing has been done by management to rectify the situation either .
Health experts have also warned that apart from drowning , travelers can easily contract diseases such as bilharzia by walking through untreated water. Efforts to get comments from KIS managers were futile.
Security personnel manning the ferry declined to comment because they are not allowed to talk to the media . The travelers’ nightmare is completed by the sorry state of the road from Bugoma to Kalangala .
