SOUTH SUDAN: Government Announces Plan to Build Highway Connecting to Kenya
South
Sudan’s minister of Roads and Bridges, Gier Chuang Aluong, has announced the
government’s plan to connect South Sudan and the neighbouring Kenya with a
highway in order to boost economic activities between the two sisterly nations.
Sudan’s minister of Roads and Bridges, Gier Chuang Aluong, has announced the
government’s plan to connect South Sudan and the neighbouring Kenya with a
highway in order to boost economic activities between the two sisterly nations.
The highway,
he told the press on Saturday, will connect Juba, the new country’s capital,
and Nadipal at the two countries’ common border.
he told the press on Saturday, will connect Juba, the new country’s capital,
and Nadipal at the two countries’ common border.
Aluong
further explained the importance of the project, saying it will be
“economically viable” and boost economic activities as commodities
shall be ferried from the Kenyan port of Mombasa into South Sudan in big
volumes and short period.
further explained the importance of the project, saying it will be
“economically viable” and boost economic activities as commodities
shall be ferried from the Kenyan port of Mombasa into South Sudan in big
volumes and short period.
Currently
South Sudan is a consumer country which exports almost none to the outside
world besides the oil and imports almost every commodity including agricultural
produces and livestock for meat from the neighbouring countries.
South Sudan is a consumer country which exports almost none to the outside
world besides the oil and imports almost every commodity including agricultural
produces and livestock for meat from the neighbouring countries.
Aluong said
the plan will be supported jointly with the World Bank and the Kenyan
government, saying a meeting was already held by the three bodies to implement
the project.
the plan will be supported jointly with the World Bank and the Kenyan
government, saying a meeting was already held by the three bodies to implement
the project.
The highway
project, which he said will be implemented in the coming year 2013, will be the
second all-weather asphalted highway after the over 100 kilometres Juba-Nimule
road, which was the first highway in South Sudan inaugurated last month.
project, which he said will be implemented in the coming year 2013, will be the
second all-weather asphalted highway after the over 100 kilometres Juba-Nimule
road, which was the first highway in South Sudan inaugurated last month.
The Juba-Nimule
highway was funded and implemented by the United States Agency for
International Development (USAID), and connects South Sudan to Uganda.
highway was funded and implemented by the United States Agency for
International Development (USAID), and connects South Sudan to Uganda.
The new
country never had asphalted roads since creation and has not successfully built
roads for the last seven years of the current government during which four
different ministers of road took up the portfolio with the widow of the late
founder of the ruling SPLM, Rebecca Nyandeng de Mabior, as the first minister
to hold the position in 2005 when the government was formed.
country never had asphalted roads since creation and has not successfully built
roads for the last seven years of the current government during which four
different ministers of road took up the portfolio with the widow of the late
founder of the ruling SPLM, Rebecca Nyandeng de Mabior, as the first minister
to hold the position in 2005 when the government was formed.
Officials
acknowledge that the lack of roads hinders access to most parts of the vast
country which significantly contributes to the failure to deliver the needed
services to the 80% of the populations that live in the rural areas.
acknowledge that the lack of roads hinders access to most parts of the vast
country which significantly contributes to the failure to deliver the needed
services to the 80% of the populations that live in the rural areas.
The minister
of roads had earlier revealed that the country needs to construct at least
7,000 kilometres of asphalted roads network in order to connect the country’s
ten states and to its neighbouring countries in the region.
of roads had earlier revealed that the country needs to construct at least
7,000 kilometres of asphalted roads network in order to connect the country’s
ten states and to its neighbouring countries in the region.
SOURCE: Sudan Tribune
