KAMPALA, Dec. 20 (Xinhua) -- Uganda on Friday reopened a key bridge on an international highway leading to the neighboring eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and South Sudan, after months of renovation.
Minister of Works and Transport Katumba Wamala told Parliament late Thursday that light vehicles and buses would be allowed to use the bridge.
Repairs that would enable heavy vehicles to use the bridge would also be completed soon, the minister said.
Local media reported that religious and political leaders converged on the bridge to witness its reopening after about four months of closure for renovation.
Since September, vehicles traveling to and from northern Uganda, South Sudan, and parts of eastern DRC have been using alternative routes.
The 60-year-old bridge, located in the midwestern Uganda district of Kiryandongo, has been renovated by Chinese construction firm China Railway Seventh Group and the Ugandan military, after it developed cracks. ■