Traders in Lainya County of Central Equatoria State have complained that the high transportation cost for bringing goods from Juba to Lainya is affecting their business.
The complaint comes after the Central Equatoria Chamber of Commerce Chairman visited Yei and Lainya counties this week to assess the business gaps in the counties.
The traders who met the visiting officials on Thursday said the cost of transporting goods from Juba to Lainya or Yei is unaffordable and that authorities in Juba should help rescue the situation.
Agnes Amos, a businesswoman in Lainya, said: “Our businesses are doing well but the major problem affecting our business here is transporting goods. We are requesting the Chamber of Commerce of Central Equatoria State to help us with the means of transport for bringing for us basic commodities like salt, onion, fish, soap and sugar.”
Lainya businesswoman Charity Siama said: “We have a serious situation affecting our business here in Lainya. We want to start reviving our businesses but the problem is that we don’t have the capacity to hire transport means for bringing goods from Juba to Lainya.”
Another businessman in Lainya County, John Lemi Sisto said: “The problem with our business here is we have interest in doing business but the problem is the lack of support. You may have some small money for buying goods from Juba, but the biggest problem will be transporting them.”
Addressing journalists in Lainya, Robert Pitya, Chairperson of the Central Equatoria Chamber of Commerce pledged to install a store in Lainya to act as a depot for storing commodities.
“I have come to visit these counties to help resolve the challenges affecting them in Yei, Morobo and Lainya counties. Now, we have taken the initiative of getting one store here in Lainya County just like what we have done in Yei so that all traders in Lainya will be in a position to buy cheaply from the store instead of going to buy goods from Juba or Kampala, which are expensive. We will be filling the store here with commodities so that every trader will buy at a cheaper price,” he pledged.
The Chairman of Chamber of Commerce for Lainya County Marko Laku Elyaba said most businesses were affected in Lainya during the 2016 conflict which severely affected Greater Yei counties.
“What is affecting our business here in Lainya started since the 2016 conflict in which people were scattered. Most shops were destroyed and looted and that is why when you look at most of the shops here in Lainya, they are not full like before,” he said.