JINJA: June 3 marks the world bicycle day with celebrations to create awareness and spread the word about the significance of cycling. It also aims to encourage masses to utilize bikes for a more sustainable lifestyle.
In commemoration of the day, Cycling out of poverty Uganda (Coop-Uganda) a Jinja based nonprofit organization promoting the usage of bicycles in Uganda organized a critical mass where streets of Jinja city center were flooded with cyclists enjoying rides.
This year’s theme of the unpopular day was “promoting health, equity, and sustainability through cycling”. Among participants who ridded the bicycles include the Executive Director Mr Isaac Imaka, Jinja city physical planner Charles Nampendo, City principal environment officer Harnest Nabihama, and Jinja city deputy mayor Fazira Kawuma. Others included the Jinja district scouts boss Micheal Balaza, school going children and others who were in the guide of the traffic police.
The critical mass, according to Mr Edgar Kabaale, the operations manager of Coop Uganda, aims to disseminate the massage of the world bicycle day for people to embrace the crucial idea using the bike. He says the quarterly critical that also focuses on demanding proper planning of road construction and encouraging planners to design bicycle lanes on busy streets.
“Today we were joined by cohorts of individuals to ride with us. We still demand for the attention of planners to listen to our calls of adding us on the road. You have seen school going children, sports and talented individuals who enjoys riding to work places, schools and so on,” said Mr Kabaale.
Kabaale advocates for a smart city believing that if a bicycle use is embraced, there will be no congestion and traffic jams in town.
“The days we have what we call smart city. We believe that Jinja can be a smart city with bicycles because the bicycles can never bring about jam. We therefore call for designs of bicycle lanes for people effectively and safely ride and walk on the streets,” he added.
Notably, Kabaale revealed that the organization last Friday donated over 41 bicycles to learners of Mpumudde Seed Secondary School and Buwenda Primary School to ease their mobility to schools. He stressed that long journeys have affected the performance of learners since they lack concentration in classes, but the cheap bicycle can serve as a solution.
“We observed that most of the unprivileged school going children do not study well due to long journeys to school. So, we thought bicycles could probably shorten the distances. We have been monitoring, and we shall monitor the impact of those bikes we gave to learners,” he said.
According to Imaka, riding a bicycle does not signify one’s poverty, but it is instead a health providing activity. He says the environment can not be destroyed by improper garbage disposal but carbon emissions produced by vehicles.
“As we come here every year, please remember that we have a role to play in promoting a clean Jinja. A clean Jinja in not just about the garbage, it is about the air we breathe and if you can be that person that could put your car aside just for a week and ride your bicycle then you are promoting a clean Jinja,” said Imaka.
Undertaking the activities of Kyabazinga’s Gabula Royal Foundation, Imaka says they are patterning with different stakeholders to ensure a sustainable environment in the Busoga sub-region. He said Jinja should take the lead in promoting clean cities while Busoga should be at the forefront of addressing the effects of climate change.
“We have embarked on the exercise of planting trees in Busoga. So, wherever you are and you are able to plant even five trees, we are ready to provide them to you. We are basically looking at fruit trees that shall benefit the young generation with fruits,” he added.
Charles Nampendo, who was recently in the Netherlands for tips on non-motorized transport courtesy of Coop Uganda, explained Jinja is ready to implement the repeated calls of the organization in promoting the healthier transport system of riding a bicycle.
“We shall this Friday give a comprehensive report on what we learnt from Netherland. We witnessed a number of issues which I believe that if put in place, our Jinja shall be an exceptional city in Uganda,” said Nampendo.
