Traders and inhabitants of Kajo-Keji County in Central Equatoria State have attributed soaring commodity prices to the poor roads linking the county to the other parts of the country, especially the capital, Juba.
The Juba-Kajo-Keji road, which is in a state of disrepair, is the main route traders use to transport goods to the county and has been made worse by rains.
Charity Kiden, who deals in perishable goods in the Kajo-Keji market, told Radio Tamazuj that traders were forced to hike prices to factor in the exorbitant transport charges occasioned by the bad roads.
“The cost of the vehicles that we hire to bring our goods to the market has gone too high coupled with the dollar high rate and the bad roads,” she said. “Sometimes, vehicles get stuck on the way for two or three days, making life difficult for us traders.”
Rashid Jamal, a Kajo-Keji resident said commodity prices are always increasing and urged the government to rehabilitate the roads so that traders can reduce prices.
“Right now in the market, there are a lot of changes and the prices of everything have risen and retailers are complaining that the road network is bad,” he lamented. “It makes things difficult for us as parents and we are begging the government to improve on our roads.”
For his part, the commissioner of Kajo-Keji County, Kenyi Eresto, said the complaints from the public are genuine and that if it continues raining heavily, there is a possibility that Kajo-Keji will be cut off from Juba.
“It is true that the road network is bad and if it continues raining, there is a possibility that Kajo-Keji will be cut off. Even within the county, it will be very difficult to access some areas like Liwolo,” he said. “The poor road network affects the population in terms of prices. When a truck is hired from juba to Kajo-Keji, they definitely request abnormal amounts of money because of the poor road condition.”
Commissioner Kenyi said he is engaging the state roads ministry to see that the roads are improved.
‘’I have been engaging the state ministry of roads and bridges and