South Sudan's English Daily Newspaper
"We Dare where others fear"
By Benjamin Takpiny
The Executive Secretary of Northern Corridor Transit and Transport Coordination Authority (NCTTCA) Dr. John Deng Diar Diing said on Monday that the design of Juba – Nadapal road a major highway connecting to Kenya will be ready at the end of this year.
He disclosed during the extraordinary meeting of the Northern Corridor Executive Committee in Juba, that the consultants hired by the World Bank are currently undertaking the design review, to look at the parameters again that inform the design of the road.
Deng said that the road is designed on the basis of traffic volume and topography.
“I think, as we speak right now, engineers are on the road counting the vehicles and looking at the soil condition and samples. So we believe by the end of this year, the designs will be ready. And we shall focus next year on mobilizing donors to avail resources for the construction phase,” he said.
Deng said that it was on the initiative of the Northern Corridor Secretaries that brought back the World Bank to avail resources for the improvement of river transport and for the review of design of Juba- Nadapal road, of which they shall use to call a resounding conference that shall bring donors together to avail resources for the development of the road, which they think will be a great milestone for the country.
“Juba- Nadapal road has a history that is almost as long as the age of this country. In 2011, when the country was gearing up for independence, USAID committed to developing Juba-Nimule road. The World Bank took leadership in developing Juba-Nadapal road. The designs were done, but then unfortunately in 2013 when the country got into a political crisis, the donors left,” he revealed.
Deng said that on the initiative of the Northern Corridor Transit and Transport Coordination Authority in 2022, they conducted a transport assessment for the country because they really wanted to understand the architecture of transport system in the country, and the priorities.
“I would be told everything was a priority. And so we had to delve into the research to understand what would be the priority of these priorities? And so we were able to align all the transport priorities in the country. We called donors, and we presented them. So they were committed to opening up Juba- Nadapal , being the key opening route to the international market through Kenya. Because then when you come from Mombasa, now you have to go through a secondary country before you come to Juba. So above the road we engaged, the World Bank accepted, released the money to the project account,” said Deng.
Deng added that due to the border issues they had to locate resources to engage the two countries so that the issue was eliminated, adding that earlier this year the two ministers from the two countries had a political proclamation on the resolved issue.
He said that South Sudan would have to take up the construction of the Nadapal –Juba section of the road.
