Road equipmnt breakdown stalls Apac road works

Full report

Apac District department of engineering is grappling with the persistent breakdown of roads machines and equipment which has affected road maintenance works.

For the last 10 months, Apac District has not been able to work on any road since the district didn't have the functional district roads committee (DRC) and also the road equipment are lying with so many unresolved mechanical issues.

After the formation of the district roads committee a weeks ago, the road works was expected to commence immediately but almost all the roads equipment at their disposal are not in a good working condition.

According to the record from the district engineering department, some road equipment has lasted for over 30 years and are now in a very poor mechanical condition.

Apac District has a total of 1,007.2 km of government roads, 395 km motorable and 612 km in poor state according to information from the district engineering department.

Currently, the district has un spent fund amounting to Shs 250 million for roads maintenance for the first quarter of the financial year 2026/2027 and their is worries of a huge work backlog if the equipment are not repaired immediately.

Apac District Roads Committee chaired by Apac District Woman Member of Parliament, Betty Awor Engola inspected the roads on October 20, 2026 where they discovered a bulldozer abandoned in Apoi Sub-county for over six months after a technical breakdown.

She order for immediate repair of this road equipment so that the stalled road works can resume immediately.

"We have already assessed the roads and identified to that needs urgent attention so its now the role of the engineers to speed up the processes of repairing the equipment and commencing work on the roads," she said during the roads inspection on October 20, 2026.

Eng Gaston Olal, Apac District Engineer said that the the roads equipment at the district have aged and there is need for replacement.

"We have the equipment that are old like this bulldozer now down was given to us by the central government in 1992. It broke down and was taken to the regional workshop in Gulu where it lasted for almost 2 years

Meanwhile, Joyce Akello Adoko, the secretary for works and technical services at Apac District Local Government observed that there has been misses of the roads equipment.

"This bulldozer was hired out to a private farm in Apoi Sub-county where it was driven instead of being transported on a wheel loader and that is how it broke down," she said.

Apac Resident District Commissioner, Andrew Onyuk said that its very risky for the road equipment to be abandoned at the site instead of being parked at the district parking yard.

"This machine was hired out to work on a farm where in a dispute land the aggrieved party was threatening to burn the machine and its sad that its again abandoned by at the site where its not secured," he said.