The residents of Akon in Gogrial West County, Warrap State, where President Salva Kiir hails from, are upbeat about witnessing the construction of the first asphalt road in the area and the entire state.
According to local officials, the works are being done by ARC Resources Corporation Ltd which has been contracted by the national government to construct several interstate highways in South Sudan.
Akuac Awan Payam Administrator Paul Akuien told Radio Tamazuj Wednesday that the laying of the asphalt road started from President Kiir’s house and is progressing towards the fuel station in Akon town.
“There is a tarmac road now and the engineers are working on it. It started recently at the president’s house and is moving towards the fuel station,” he said. “I am very happy because it will ensure that the roads are not cut off again. If it covers our payams, county, and the entire state, I will be very happy with the government.”
Meanwhile, Gogrial West County Commissioner Victor Wek confirmed the progress of the road works and said the contractor had ferried in all the necessary materials for the work.
“ARC is now constructing the road in Akon but the project has not yet been officially launched,” he said. “The contractor has brought in all the machinery and materials.”
For her part, Angeth Teng, a resident of Akuac village in Akon, said the asphalt road will improve movement and service delivery.
“The laying of the asphalt road started at the house of the president and we are thrilled,” she said. “We did not have a telephone communication network before but we now have the MTN network which was installed in March.”
An excited Teng says her home area will now be comfortable like other developed places if the developments continue.
“This place will be like Khartoum and Juba and if the developments do not stop. The relatives of the president brought the road as a gift to the people here and I am very happy.” she mirthfully said. “We expect more things to come because we need health centers and schools. The president announced that children should study free of charge.”
“Also, the new asphalt road will ensure that there are goods in the market in abundance and prices will reduce,” Teng added.
Relatedly, Commissioner Wek said the security situation in the county is stable except traffic accidents.
“The security situation of Gogrial West County is fine but the only challenge is that some areas are not receiving sufficient rainfall,” he said. “Security is stable only that we had a fatal road accident last week in which one trader was killed by a goods truck that overturned on the way to Mayom Totin market.”