The Ngaba roundabout, the intersection between the University Road and the By-Pass, has been characterized by huge traffic jams in recent months. A place of convergence allowing to reach several destinations, including the city center, this intersection becomes difficult to access at certain times of the day, complicating traffic and encouraging uncivil acts such as theft.
On site, the Acturdc.com reporter spoke with various regulars of this area of the city of Kinshasa, who explained to her some of the reasons for the traffic jams and the inaccessibility of roads at certain times, called rush hours.
Despite the police presence that ensures traffic order throughout the day, road users encounter immense difficulties when passing through this intersection.
“We are fed up with the traffic jams caused by drivers, motorcyclists, vendors who even encroach on the tarmac, as well as road bosses, who are nothing but traffic jam instigators. The rainy season is approaching, and we no longer know who to turn to in the face of this deplorable situation,” complains a user we met on site.
Residents around the Ngaba roundabout deplore, among other causes of traffic jams at this location, the unsanitary conditions, the harassment of traffic police, the absence of limits for parking, the state of the roads, as well as the presence of vendors on the roadway.
“We sell just next to the tarmac because we don’t have space inside the market. Of course, we run risks, but we have no other choice,” explains a tomato seller at the Ngaba roundabout.
A driver operating on the Ngaba roundabout – Lemba Super line attributes a large part of the responsibility for this situation to the traffic police and the trailer trucks which take the By-Pass road via the Ngaba roundabout to go to Kongo-Central.
“We really have difficulty driving because of the traffic police who don’t do their job properly. During rush hour, the trailer trucks never respect their traffic times. The traffic jam can start around 7am and last until 10am, then start again from 4pm to 7pm, despite the presence of the police. Sometimes, we are stopped even if we are on the right track. The U-turns of some drivers, the bad state of the road, it’s really not working here,” he explains.
The condition of the gutters, which are often blocked at this intersection, is also being blamed. In addition, broken-down cars parked near the roads are causing problems.
“Traffic jams are often caused by traffic police who only think about taking money from our hands, the dilapidated state of the road, gutters filled with plastic, vendors who come to set up shop right next to the roads, the harassment of transport agents, all this makes us suffer here, these are the causes of traffic jams,” says a motorcyclist.
Let us recall that Honorary Governor Gentiny Ngobila launched, on January 26, 2023, the anarchic demolition operation at a distance of 5 meters to free up public space and facilitate the movement of means of transport. The new governor, Daniel Bumba, in his “Kinshasa ezo bonga” program, gives an important place to infrastructure and the cleaning of gutters.
/acturdc.com
2024-08-26 08:54:16
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