By Kidega Livingstone
Vice President for the Economic Cluster, Dr. James Wani Igga, has amplified concerns over the delay and non-progress in construction of roads in Central and Western Equatoria States.
VP Igga said residents in Yei River County (Central Equatoria State) and Yambio (Western Equatoria State) have raised concern to him over the sluggishness of the road progress launched a year ago.
Speaking during the endorsement of President Salva Kiir as the presidential candidate by the SPLM party, Igga stated that the communities in Yei and Yambio were displeased with the delays, which have impacted their ability to transport agricultural products to Juba and other nearby markets.
“My people from Yei told me that if I have time, I should tell the President that the road construction between Juba-Yei and Kaya town has stopped, and if this road were completed, there would be no hunger in Juba,” Igga relayed the sentiments.
He added, “Even my people in Yambio told me something: the Juba-Yambio and Tambura Road projects are not ongoing, and that stops them from transporting food to Juba.”
Yei River County and Yambio are considered the “food baskets” of South Sudan, having previously supplied Juba with agricultural produce before the outbreak of conflict.
The Juba-Yei Highway is one of the infrastructure projects that were part of the government’s “oil for development” policy unveiled in 2020, which aimed to improve road networks linking Juba to other parts of the country, including Bor, Rumbek, and Torit.
The construction of the over 200-kilometer highway, undertaken by the ARC company, commenced last year but has since stalled. The Sentry, a non-profit organization, has previously highlighted issues of corruption related to this project in its reports.
Igga emphasized that the majority of food items currently available in Juba are imported from Uganda, making them significantly more expensive due to the added cost of transporting them from another country.