South Sudan's English Daily Newspaper
"We Dare where others fear"
By Awan Achiek
The First Deputy Speaker of Transitional National Legislative Assembly (TNLA) Oyet Nathaniel Pierino on Wednesday attributed the rising cost of commodities in the states to poor road network.
“Goods, the prices of goods are high in this country because of the poor transport and communication means,” Oyet said during a parliamentary session on Wednesday.
Oyet said traders are forced to hike prices to factor in the exorbitant transport charges occasioned by the bad roads.
“Trucks break down on the road, they spend a lot of fuel maneuvering from potholes and bad roads, and you find they add the prices of the goods by the time they reach RumbeK, they reach Aweil,” he said.
The lack of paved roads is a real issue in a country where road transport is crucial.
The old roads had pools deep enough to stall a Land Rover.
In the rainy season, long stretches were so thick with mud that trucks and people could not always slog through.
Oyet responding to a question raised by legislator about the whereabouts of a report on the construction of Juba-Rumbek Highway, he said it is still on pipeline.
“Yes, we have tabled it the other week, it is still in the pipeline. We know in the parliament, according to the conduct of business, it is the speaker and the clerk who ensure that the order of the day is prepared,” he said .
“After ABC has passed the order, I mean the assembly business for the week coming, but reports, once they are committed to the committees from this house, the committees are told to spend only two weeks and come back.”
“It doesn’t go through ABC, it has to be on the order of the day, and this is a report also from the auditor general. The report must come before the budget, this is in regards to what we are saying.”
The report, initially tabled by Auditor General Ambassador Steven Wondu on 25th October 2023 was subjected to scrutiny by several specialized parliamentary committees.
The Juba-Rumbek Road project, which is a key infrastructural development in the country, has seen the involvement of major contractors, including Africa Resources Corporation (ARC) and China’s Shandong Hi-Speed Investment Company Limited.
The auditor report evaluated the technical and financial performance of the road construction as well as the management of funds and crude oil allocated to the project.
The Bank of South Sudan, in collaboration with the Ministries of Roads and Finance has been overseeing the disbursement of these funds.
