The Yei River State government started the rehabilitation of dilapidated roads to facilitate the mobility of goods and people, weeks after local residents complained about the poor conditions of roads in Yei town.
Speaking to Radio Tamazuj on Thursday, the minister of physical infrastructure, Jackson Abugo Gama said the state is rehabilitating dilapidated streets, constructing drainages and installing culverts in some residential areas to improve access to farmlands.
He further said Terre des hommes (Tdh), a Swiss-based organization, is undertaking the road rehabilitation work under its project of connecting vulnerable communities to farmlands for sustainable livelihoods.
“We are very grateful to our development partner, Tdh through its food security and livelihood project to support vulnerable communities, through cash for work project and together, we guided them to open routes in town and residential areas of Jigomoni, Atlabara and Hai Guafa. They are also opening roads in the center of town, especially the route from Twins Hotel and the ministry of finance road,” said Abugo.
The official noted that the ministry’s technicians have marked all bad spots inside Yei town, but road machinery remains a challenge.
He said they have also rehabilitated and graded Yei airstrip.
“Regarding the other areas in town, we had bad spots due to lack of machinery. We are grateful to Archbishop Elisa Taban of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church who supported and availed us a bulldozer and fuel to use for maintaining roads in town,” said Abugo.
He added, “We have also done the rehabilitation of the runway at Yei airstrip because it was in a very bad shape and it had made the airstrip unsafe for landing and taking off at the moment.”
Joice Amaka, a resident of Yei town, thanked the state government for rehabilitating the major roads.
Earlier this month, several residents of Yei town complained about the poor conditions of major roads through Radio Tamazuj.