Construction crews have begun clearing trees along the route of proposed Juba-Nadapal highway. Full-fledged construction will begin once preceding early works that include bush clearing are completed.
The 365-kilometre stretch road will run through Torit, Kapeota and Nadapal at the border with neighbouring Kenya.
The road project is being undertaken by the Winners Construction Company Limited, a South Sudanese road construction company.
Speaking to reporters in Torit town on Wednesday after a meeting between the company and officials from Eastern Equatoria State, the state governor’s press secretary said bush clearing has reached Ngangalla from Nesitu area.
Oringa John Godfrey said the move to begin bush clearing along the Nesitu-Torit road demonstrates the national government’s commitment to construct the long-awaited highway.
“The company has won the trust of the government to start working on the road. They have started doing it from Nesitu coming toward Eastern Equatoria, and good enough that they have divided the road into segments,” said Oringa.
“On the issue of insecurity, there is nothing now because there is peace. It is very important for the youth to get involved so that they own the initiative,” he added.
Oringa urged the contractors to cooperate with local communities during the construction of the highway.
For his part, Simon Akuei Deng, a coordinator for the Winners Construction Company Limited, said they visited Eastern Equatoria to allocate some sections of the road project to local contractors to start working.
“We are here to allocate some of the contractors their sections so that the work on the road can start. There are phases for the construction of the road. The first phase is the bush clearing, so we want to clear the road up to the Kenyan border. The second phase will start immediately after the clearing is finished, we will start building the road itself, “he said.
Akuei said President Salva Kiir Mayardit is committed to construct roads in the country, pointing out that the president has adopted a policy of oil for development.
He assured the people of Eastern Equatoria State that local youths will be employed according to their sections.
Mr Ohucholi Patrick, a young man living in Eastern Equatoria State, expressed his happiness about the steps taken to build a highway connecting the country with neighbouring Kenya.
“Our expectations are very high because the road will actually boost the economy of our state and our state will embark on development,” he said.
“What I need is that when the company starts constructing the road, the government should be near to supervise their work very well so that they construct a good quality road,” he added.
Engineer Norman Charles Gideon, the Director-General in the State Ministry of Roads, said the road construction will be undertaken within four years from the date of commencement.
The road project is considered important since it will connect South Sudan with neighbouring Kenya. Currently, the world’s youngest nation imports almost everything from neighbouring countries.
The highway will ease the transportation of Kenyan products to South Sudan. The volume of Kenyan goods exported to South Sudan has been on the rise.