Western Equatoria State's newly appointed Minister of Transports, Roads and Bridges Rajab Simon Mahandis says bad roads in the state contributed much to the tragic fuel explosion in Mambe Payam that approximately 200 people and burnt hundreds.

After arriving to Maridi with the new county commissioner from Yambio, he visited the scene of the fuel tanker explosion and found that the roads are very bad, saying if the roads were good the truck would not have overturn and hundreds would not have died.

The tanker exploded after hundreds local people gathered around it to siphon leaking petrol.

“I am very much concerned about this. I assessed the situation of the road to understand the contribution of the road to this disaster where we lost hundreds of people, and my conclusion was that the road was actually a culprit to this incident,” said Rajab.

He continued, “It was because the roads were bad that the vehicle overturned. If not for the road the vehicle would have moved through this place and this disaster would not have happened, and this gives us the challenge to work on this road.”

Rajab Simon Mahandis was appointed as minister of transport, roads and bridges by the caretaker governor of Western Equatoria State on 26 September 2015 by state degree.

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