Poor roads have made it difficult to travel between Tonj South County and Kuacjok, the state capital of Warrap, according to the local government. The roads were damaged last year in flooding.

Tonj South Commissioner Wol Mayom Bol warns that if there is no intervention this year by the national government, the road linking Warrap with Lake State and Western Bahr el Ghazal will definitely close during the rainy season.

In an interview, the commissioner said he has delegated the department of infrastructure to dump materials on the worst parts of the road the county.

Wol explained, “We collect 30 South Sudanese pounds from every household which is called ‘social taxes’ and these are the funds we are using to repair the affected parts of the feeder road linking the county with its neighboring counties.”

But he says these efforts are inadequate. “We need the government to intervene because we in the county cannot due to lack of vehicles to collect (road-building) materials,” he said.

According to the commissioner, the worst stretch of road is at Aluel Agok on the way from Tonj to Western Bahr el Ghazal and Mabior Ngaap on the road to Cueibet in Lake state.

“If I need to go to Kuajok, I first move to Wau through Aluel Agok which is the bad area, then to Kuacjok, the capital of Warrap, because there is no road (directly) connecting the state capital with Tonj South,” Wol explained.

The road constructed a long time ago that passes from Lony Akeer to Thiet and onward to Tonj South is used only during the dry season. 

File photo: A road in South Sudan