EYAT Roads and Bridges company, with funding from the government of South Sudan’s Northern Bahr el Ghazal state, is repairing the Aweil-Mairam trade route to ease the movement of goods and citizens between Sudan and South Sudan.
The company started repairs on the165 kilometer Aweil-Mairam road on August 23, 2020.
EYAT said it has completed the road on the South Sudan side, adding that it is waiting from both governments to resolve matters that caused the suspension of the remaining 38 kilometers section between Majok and Mairam.
The regional manager of EYAT Roads and Bridges, Husham Ahmed Muktar, said the repairs were going on smoothly.
“The renovation is moving smoothly and we have started on 23 August from Aweil to Mairam but we did not reach Mairam, we reached Majok Bridge on 15 October. The road from Aweil to Majok Bridge is 127 kilometers it is the last point we are stopping now,’’ Ahmed Muktar said.
“Directives from the vice president Hussein Abdalbagi and state governor told us to go ahead and complete the road until Mairam, we the company won't have any problem. We can complete until Mairam but there are arrangements from concerned authorities in Sudan and South Sudan,’’ he added.
Ahmed Muktar said that the distance between Aweil-Majok was meant to be completed in one month and a half or two months, adding that it has achieved it in 45 days only. The company said the remaining distance from Majok to Mairam will be accomplished after the governments agree.
The Northern Bahr el Ghazal State secretary-general Dominic Kang Deng said the state initiated the repairs to assist the flow of goods from neighboring Sudan and to rescue the state from the current harsh economic situation.
“It is the state government which started the initiative with EYAT Company, of course, the EYAT Company is an old company that deals with people. We agreed with them on the number of things that we collect in the state like taxes and we give them,” he said.
The Northern Bahr el Ghazal state government approved and released 10 million South Sudanese Pounds for the road repairs.
The vital trade route was constructed before the independence of South Sudan and had since deteriorated hampering the importation of many basic commodities from Sudan.
Traders in Northern Bahr el Ghazal state said the newly refurbished road will boost their businesses.
Isaac Yahya, a Sudanese businessman in Aweil Town, said he will benefit from the route when it is reopened, “Yes it will help us, the road if it is renovated and reopened; it will help us indeed because the commercial movement was too slow in the last months.”
Abraham Garang, a trader in Northern Bahr el Ghazal’s Warawar border trade zone between Sudan and South Sudan disclosed that the route was completed after traders urged the government to prioritize repairs on it.
“The road is now ready but it is still not opened. We went up to the bridge and the road was so good indeed. The remaining thing is the reopening of the road. Trade will be good because if the road is open people will go and bring commodities from here to Mairam easily and commerce will be good indeed,’’ Garang said.
Malong Deng Nyuany, a member of the Northern Bahr el Ghazal state chamber of commerce, said the commercial road will allow the transportation of various types of food and non-food items from Sudan.
He expects living conditions to improve by 2021 if the governments of Sudan and South Sudan agree on reopening of border trade.
“It will be good and the road will help us with sugar, flour, and Atbara cement products. There are a lot of building materials that come on this road, even food items and if the government of Sudan and government of Juba agree to reactive the road, there will be no more problems, and next year everybody will be free to engage in business,’’ Malong hopes.