As obvious as the fact that Gudele is highly populated, the truth that it is using only one road is a problem looking for a solution.
A day hardly passes without an accident occurring on Gudele Road and this is brought about by a quotidian jam to and fro. For every 10 patients admitted to the hospital, 7 of them are trauma patients. This makes an emergency department the busiest department in the entire hospital.
Jamming interferes with normal day-to-day life as hurriedness to skip jam becomes the order of the day. In the morning, people going to their workplaces would pass through a number of microjams and macrojams right from Gudele as each of them alight at his/her workplace till the final destination.
The major jamming roundabouts begin with Gudele One roundabout, St. Kizito roundabout, the Seventh Day roundabout and then the road divides. For those going to Konyo-konyo, they would spend time at that junction formed by the ends of ABMC former premises, Dr John Garang Mausoleum and Parliament.
As they exit that junction, the long jam of Custom roundabout welcomes them immediately with open arms. After Custom roundabout, University of Juba roundabout, Tambura Road roundabout, Malakia roundabout and then to Konyo-Konyo.
For those going to Juba Town, they would take time waiting at Kololo roundabout, and then that very special junction near the presidential palace where cars can sometimes be stopped for an hour or so when the president or any of the vice presidents wants to use it. After this, the next major jamming roundabout is Mundiria roundabout and then to Juba Town. The worst jam takes place at evening hours when people are returning home.
This delays people rushing home with sandwiches that they have bought for children using wages. Not only that, but it also delays people rushing home to take medicines or to take the sick people for regimens, those rushing home to do tomorrow’s assignments, and those going home to take enough rest for a hectic tomorrow.
This makes the residents of Gudele unrest, trying this feeder road and that just to make sure they go home as early as possible. But all in vain as the only road in good shape is the highway.
The government should take into its account that though development is missing in the periphery of Juba, it should not be missing within Juba as a city. This can help tell visitors that there is a little development taking place in South Sudan. Besides that, the face of the country should at least look beautiful, though its bottom suffers from underdevelopment.
The solution lies in the hands of Juba City Council to either construct that road passing through Rock City directly to Gudele 2 or construct feeder roads within Gudele 1 to help reduce jams for those going to Gudele 2. With feeder roads, it would make it easier by reducing jamming as private cars would use them, while the public transport cars would follow the highway. Another annoying issue to look into is the encroachment of vendors on the road. This narrows the road from both sides, thus contributing to jamming as well.
People say that the ladder is fixed after a child has fallen. But this road will not only cause tragedies to children but also for adults. Juba City Council should not wait until it is forced by a tragedy to look into Gudele’s infrastructural problem. This is a concern which needs an urgent solution from the concerned authorities, especially Juba City Council.
Thanks for reading “Sowing The Seed Of Truth”.