Heavy rains have collapsed sections of a highway in southwestern Uganda linking it to Rwanda, slowing goods transport between the two landlocked countries, Reuters quoted a roads official as saying today. The east African country has received unusually heavy rain since December, leading to a wave of devastating landslides in mountainous regions and damaging farms and transport infrastructure. Heavy rains in eastern Uganda triggered a massive landslide last week that killed over 80 people after burying three hamlets in the Bududa district. Landslides have also occurred in the country's southwest and western regions, causing limited damage. Dan Alinange, communications manager for Uganda's National Roads Authority (UNRA), said rain had damaged sections of the highway between Kabale, a major town in southwestern Uganda and Rwanda's border town of Katuna. "Some sections of the road have collapsed and to prevent a complete breakdown, we stopped all heavy trucks and buses from using the road but small passenger vehicles can still pass," he said. Landlocked Rwanda imports nearly all its goods through Uganda and disruption of traffic is expected to slow down the flow of critical supplies like fuel. Alinange said they had decided to divert fuel tankers and other heavy vehicles to a bypass. But the alternative route is winding and badly potholed, increasing the time vehicles take to reach Rwanda. "It's an emergency situation and we have already delivered our engineers to the area. Work is already underway and we expect to finish all repairs in a week's time so normal traffic flow can resume," he said.
