The Kajo-Keji County Commissioner, Panuel Dumo, has called on the state government to prioritize the rehabilitation of roads to ease movement.
Kajo-Keji is one of the Central Equatoria State counties that have witnessed the deterioration of roads in recent years, especially the main ones linking it to the national capital Juba.
Speaking to Radio Tamazuj Thursday, Dumo said: “I think the government should appreciate that it is not in order for its citizens to use another country to get into their own, which should even be a security concern. Let us encourage ourselves to work on the road construction because it is a priority’’.
He disclosed that in February this year, a road construction was launched at Pakula through the efforts of UNMISS and the government, but the project stalled and the reason given was the taxes demanded by the government.
“I went direct to meet UNMISS and they told me that they would not continue, because the government imposed taxes even on the fuel they used,” he said.
A driver on the Kajo-Keji to Juba road, Moses Remo, said, of late, they could spend up to three days on the way to either destination and that the situation had crippled business because those who can afford choose to fly.
“We suffer a lot when it rains, when we spend up to three days on the way, unlike before when it was a one-day trip. There is no business because some bridges have been washed away by floods. The government should look into the road issues,” he said.
A trader at Kajo-Keji, Amos Lokujong, said, the bad roads were hindering the transportation of commodities, especially from Juba, and that most people relied on Uganda goods, which were expensive due to the currency exchange rates.
Dumo, however, said the governor had assured him of working on the roads connecting the major towns to Kajo-Keji
“When I met the governor together with my community leaders, we emphasized to him and he said, he was going to work with the people on the ground, the county commissioner and the MP to fix the roads.”
The majority of the Kajo-Keji residents are farmers and fixing the roads would greatly benefit them.