Residents of Yei Town in South Sudan’s Yei River State are appealing to the state government to rehabilitate roads, culverts, and bridges within the town.

Several residents who pay monthly and weekly taxes to different bodies of the state government said the roads connecting the town and residential areas are in bad condition. They said the taxes collected should be used to provide basic services and repair roads.

A trader at Dar-El Salam market, Thomas Albino, told Radio Tamazuj that numerous pleas by residents have been in vain.

“A lot of taxes have been collected from us by the municipal government, different sections of the state revenue chambers and even the national government,” he said.

Albino added, “We have told the tax collectors to tell the mayor and the governor to ensure that the taxes collected are seen in form of service delivery like the repair of roads, but nothing has been done so far.”

Joy Tumalu, a resident of Mahad area also decried the poor state of roads within Yei Town.

“Some poor civilians selling vegetables in the open markets are paying weekly taxes to the government and when it rains we are finding it difficult to move in some of the streets of Yei town,” she added.

The Executive Director of the People’s Empowerment Center, a local NGO Justoson Victor Yoasa called on the government to repair the roads, as part of their obligation.

“If taxes are being collected from the citizens, then the people deserve services in return and it’s the responsibility of the government to rehabilitate these roads so that poor farmers can have better access to the roads,” he said.

Yoasa pointed out that the recent heavy rains and lack of long-lasting maintenance plans are some of the challenges facing the state.

Last week, hundreds of residents and soldiers in Mukaya County of Yei River State resorted to using rudimentary tools to open up roads that link payams. The county officials urged the state government and its partners to provide mechanized construction equipment like road graders, bulldozers and rollers to support the community’s efforts in road reconstruction.