The owners of the shops demolished during the construction of the Clement Mboro Bridge in Western Bahr al-Ghazal State are demanding the compensation promised by the national Ministry of Road and Bridges.
In March 2021 when the China Tianyuan Construction Group Company Limited and the China Aid for Shared Future started the construction on the Jur River, the government immediately announced it would compensate the owners of the building demolished to create space.
Speaking to Radio Tamazuj in Wau on Wednesday, the chairperson for Trade Union, Charles Wol, said those affected wanted a compensation with an interest because the quotation made three years ago would fall short of the current market rates.
“The traders incurred huge loses because of their destroyed shops and at the end, the road did not pass through the affected area. They destroyed 43 shops,” said Wol.
“There was a quotation made by the Department of Physical Infrastructure to compensate the people with land and cash, but some are yet to get their new lands.”
“The state government promised that the cash compensation would be made by the national government and it would provide the land. The state government has implemented its promise, though there are those who were yet to get their land, but that could be only due to the paper work,” he said.
Wol said the quotation made two years ago was 3 million South Sudanese pound per shop, while the current price of a building stood at 12 to 15 million SSP.
He said the traders had incurred huge losses hence the need to speed up their compensation.
Last week, the nation minister for Road and Bridges, Simon Mijok Mijak, said his ministry was preparing to pay US$5 million to those affected.
“The cost for the traders is US$5 million and should be paid in SSP,” said Mijak.