Central Equatoria State Governor Emmanuel Adil Anthony on Wednesday warned Juba residents whose homes and or shops have been built on roads or road reserves to immediately vacate to allow for the smooth rehabilitation and construction within Juba City.
He made the remarks during the launch of the Internal Roads Construction project along the Rock City Road.
“Everyone who has built his house or shop near the road or inside the road, from today onwards, we are going destroy them and you will have nothing to claim. If you have taken the land from the state government with documents, then we will know what to do with that document of your land,” he warned. “We are going to open this road and we do not want it to be closed and if you are going to resist, the government will come to you.”
In a separate statement, Governor Adil also instructed the chairpersons of the quarter councils in residential areas to take regular garbage collection seriously. He threatens to fire any chairman who does not ensure that garbage is collected in their jurisdiction.
“If we get rubbish near your shop or area and you are a leader from the quarter council, we will remove you and put someone else because the issue of garbage is a health concern,” he stressed.
For his part, Simon Mijok Mijak, the National Minister of Roads, said the roads will create investment opportunities in Juba.
“These roads will encourage the creation of opportunities for investment because the ministry of roads and the national government takes money from the ministry of finance or the treasury and puts that money in the pockets of its citizens indirectly,” he underscored.
“After some time, these homes near the road will be very expensive in value. For instance, if their owners want to sell their plots or rent their homes, it will be higher because of the advantage of good roads,” he added. “The same thing happens when someone whose home is near the main road wants a loan from the bank, the bank will give him the loan with the guarantee of the land. So, this is an indirect investment of money to our people.”
Minister Mijok said that people are building on road reserves yet and in town planning, there is always a distance of 5 meters between a house and the road.
“Urban planning is a problem because there is still encroachment on land even in areas like Gudele and Munuki,” he stated.
Meanwhile, Dr. Barnaba Bak Chol, the National Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, vowed that his office will make accountability a priority to avoid laxity from the contracted ARC Company.