The Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) is calling for removal of markets along major roads, as a way of curbing the escalating road carnage and traffic jam.
The UNRA Executive Director Mrs Alen Kagina yesterday essayed to convince Members of Parliament and stakeholders to look into the possibility of relocating these markets to somewhere else away from road.
Some of the markets UNRA is seeking riddance of include the ones in Kalerwe, Busega and Kireka in Kampala and Abayita-Ababiri along Entebbe road in Wakiso district.
Kagina said with concern that every time they finish constructing a road, people quickly put up a market, which is very dangerous and one of the major reasons why there is a lot of traffic jam in Kampala and Wakiso district.
The UNRA boss was on Friday speaking at a consultative conference with Members of Parliament at the Kampala Serena Hotel.
“We want to first sensitize people, more so the vendors that conduct businesses in all the markets near the roads in Kampala and Wakiso; telling them the dangers of working near the roads. After that, the eviction will take place’ ’Kagina said.
UNRA attributed road accidents on the Northern-Bypass and Kireka-Banda area along Jinja road on the vendors who jam the roads and people end up being knocked especially in the night while trying to buy goods from the roadside
According to UNRA, currently the Northern Bypass has three markets in the day and like four markets in the nights, which block the roads.
Generally, she says, what was supposed to be a quick route around town has been a major hindrance so much, so that it is faster to go through town than to use the northern-bypass.
Kagina also explained that it takes a person three hours at Abayita-Ababiri when leaving Entebbe because of the roadside market that narrows the road and causes traffic jam.
She said that officials from UNRA will soon be going on a campaign to sensitise the public not to build more markets in the road reserve too.
‘’Every week two people are knocked dead around the Kireka market; the country cannot continue losing people because the roads are good’’ Kagina said.
“UNRA constructs roads to change people’s livelihood and one of the things that has happened especially around the roads radiating out of Kampala and major towns closer to Kampala; people are very fast at building markets.”