Residents stuck home as slippery roads prevail
MKHULAMINI- Some residents of Mkhulamini and surrounding areas were forced to stay home last Friday due to the terrible state of the road, which could not be accessed by public transport.
Those who went against the odds braved the slippery road and walked over km to get to the nearest accessible public trans port. 'uring a visit to the area, in the com pany of .ukhanyeni ,ndvuna Yenkhundla Remember MatsenMwa last )riday, it was observed that there were many dongas owing to the continuous rains. The trip was characterised by bumpy rides and a lot of mud. 3ublic transport was seen at a standstill, as the drivers had parked the vehicles to avoid damage.
There was a stretch of about km that was non commutable due to erosion. $ regular commuter said she was home for two days since last Thursday, and could not go to work because of the terrible state of the road.
The employee of one of the government offices in Manzini, said she had been call ing work to report that she could not avail herself because of the bad state of the road.
³There is no option of another route be cause even taking the stretch via Maliyad uma is taxing as it is in bad shape. :hat happens now is that we either have to travel over km to board public transport or simply stay home,” said the community member. She expressed concern over the terrible state of the roads, adding that this would affect her productivity at work. She expressed hope that government would prioritise the area, since a lot of people who were employed in town resided at their homes in the area Mkhulamini to avoid paying rent.
Extensively
$ community member said the road was extensively damaged, such that it reTuired digging to remove a pipe that had been left under the road.
He said the pipe was now blocked and could not serve its purpose, which was to allow for the flow of water into a drainage system during rains. The resident appealed for help from government to make the area a priority. Meanwhile, when reached for comment, an environmentalist said these were clear signs of climate change.
³Many places in the country have been facing more freTuent and extreme rains in the past few weeks.
The problem of so much water is pos ing serious challenges in the kingdom, where our infrastructure is not up to standard,” he said. The environmen talist said the experienced downpour was influenced by the burning fossil fuels, cutting down trees and farming livestock using bad practices. He said this affected the earth’s temperature.
³This adds amounts of greenhouse gases to those naturally occurring in the atsmosphere, increasing the green house effect and global warming,” he explained.
Address
,n order to address the issue of cli mate change, the environmentalist said carbon dioxide emissions had to be reduced, not only in the country, but the whole world.
He said this could be done by using low energy lighting and appliances in homes, planting trees, as well as reduc ing, reusing and recycling. Eswatini has been receiving large amounts of rainfall in the past weeks, causing flooding in various parts of the country.
2ver people were left displaced after their houses either collapsed due to the heavy rains or were simply washed away by the floods.
The 1ational 'isaster Management $gency 1'M$ , together with Bapha lali Eswatini Red Cross, have been responding to various distressed calls of people who had been misplaced as a result of the floods.