The residents of the Nazareth suburb which is south of Wau town in Western Bahr el Ghazal State have asked the municipal council to expeditiously repair a flooded section of the road connecting them to the town center.
The calls come after a section of the road in a swampy area called Kubri Rabayali became impassable after torrential rains and almost claimed the lives of two school-going children on Monday. Several motorbikes were also washed away at the spot according to residents.
Numerous commuters who were stranded at the spot on Monday evening told Radio Tamazuj that they had reported the poor state of the road to the state authorities but nothing has been done.
Bol Upieu, the chairperson of the bodaboda riders in Wau urged the state government to repair the dangerous section of the road.
“This road is always bad and dangerous to school children and we went to the deputy governor about the matter but nothing was done,” he lamented. “This spot is dangerous and it has taken people before and it was difficult to rescue them.”
Another resident, Edward Arkangelo, said the spot was dangerous and that someone almost drowned there on Monday.
“It is always dangerous when it rains, especially for children who find it difficult to cross when they are going to school,” said Arkangelo. “Today (Monday), the water took somebody although he was rescued. As residents of Wau South, we are calling on the government, particularly the municipality, to do something.”
He added that farmers from the southern part of Wau town cannot take their produce for sale to town due to the bad section of the road.
“We want the municipal council to raise the level of the culvert higher because the water is passing over the current one and this is dangerous,” Arkangelo said.