A detachment of South Sudanese military engineers arrived yesterday in Yei to help repair the Maridi-Yei road, which needs repairs about 9 km from Yei.

Hundreds of trucks have been stranded on the road.

Bidali Cosmas Wori-Kojo, Commissioner of Yei River County said, “I would have to acknowledge the fact that the roads are not in good form… the Yei-Maridi road has been all along very bad, and it became worse.”

He said that the local government tried to help the situation but noted that maintenance of the road is a national government responsibility.

“We at local level were playing our part to mobilize the people so that they do our part at our level,” he said.

“It’s one of the busiest roads linking Central Equatoria State to West and also linking the country to the neighboring countries as well,” he said, mentioning that it was also a crucial link to greater Bahr al Ghazal.

Bidali has only recently taken office after appointment by the governor of Central Equatoria State, Clement Wani Konga. In an interview with Radio Tamzuj, he said that his first priority is “maintaining peace and security” and his second priority is “team spirit.”

The new commissioner explained, “The second priority is to consolidate team spirit and collective engagement so that together we will be able to reduce the weight of the heavy load involved in service delivery.”

Related coverage:

Trucks stranded on Yei-Maridi road (16 Sept.)