A South Sudanese lawmaker has raised an urgent public concern about the dilapidated Juba-Yei highway, warning that it will soon become impassable for travelers.
During a parliamentary sitting on Wednesday, Yei River County representative Paul Yoani Bonju, appealed to the Transitional National Legislative Assembly to take action on the critical road.
He noted that the road was among the government’s priorities for connectivity.
“I want to appeal to your office and the Minister of Roads and Bridges, at least to make road maintenance along this road, because the road will become soon inaccessible,” Bonju said
He thanked President Salva Kiir Mayardit for his previously conceived initiative on road connectivity dubbed “Oil-for-Road” projects and mentioned that the African Resource Corporation (ARC) was contracted to construct the Juba-Yei-Kaya road.
According to Bonju, ARC had cleared a section of the road from Juba to Loka in Lainya County and another from Yei to Kaya but the main construction work stalled.
The area Member of Parliament also sought the Speaker’s help in securing a meeting with Adut Salva Kiir Mayardit, the newly appointed Presidential Advisor on Special Programs, to push for the road’s maintenance and construction.
In response to the urgent concern, the Right Honorable Speaker, Jemma Nunu Kumba, clarified that arranging such a meeting and intervening with the Minister of Roads was not her institutional office responsibility.
She directed MP Bonju to the parliamentary committee on Roads and Bridges and advised him to independently schedule a meeting with the Presidential Advisor’s office.
