South Sudan's English Daily Newspaper
"We Dare where others fear"
By Benjamin Takpiny
The Secretariat of the Northern Corridor Transit and Transport Agreement (NCTTA) met in Juba to advance the objectives of the Northern Corridor Transit and Transport Agreement, and to review and approve the Northern Corridor secretariat policy documents.
The Northern Corridor Extraordinary Executive Committee Meeting will also approve and confirm the recruitment of the new Deputy Director, Infrastructure Development and Management from the Northern Corridor Member State of South Sudan.
Speaking during the opening of the meeting on Monday in Juba, Bageya Waiswa, Chairman of the Northern Corridor Executive Committee and Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Works and Transport of Uganda, said that the meeting is intended to advance the objectives of the Northern Corridor Transit and Transport Agreement by reviewing and approving the Northern Corridor secretariat policy documents and look at other administrative matters pertinent in the running of the institution.
He said that the extraordinary Executive Committee Meeting is also poised to interview candidates to fill the position of the Deputy Director, Infrastructure Development and Management from the member State of South Sudan, and also approve and confirm the appointment of the Director, Customs and Trade facilitation of the Northern Corridor Member State of Burundi.
“I saw the experts are with us today and I hope you will not have a hard time to review the policy documents so that you can approve them for immediate entry into force and in good use” he said
He urged the new Executive Secretary and his entire team to continue to work closely with the relevant ministries and stakeholders in this beautiful country to spearhead the integration of systems and other Northern Corridor initiatives and projects intended to improve Trade and Transport in the Northern Corridor region.
“Let’s strive to continue to strengthen our collaboration and efforts towards the ultimate goal of transforming the Northern Corridor into an economic and sustainable development corridor that offers internationally competitive trade and transport services and promotes regional integration”.
Dr. John Deng Diar Diing Executive Secretary of Northern Corridor Transit and Transport Agreement (NCTTA) , said that as being appointed as the head of a regional organization requires him to work for all the countries.
He said that South Sudan is going to benefit from Northern Corridor together with other countries.
“If South Sudan is going to benefit, it is going to benefit as one of the countries in the region. And, of course, as a South Sudanese, there are areas in which South Sudan will benefit because I understand the issues of South Sudan much more than previous executive secretaries. Not because you had no time to understand them, but probably have emotional attachments on issues of South Sudan,” said Deng.
He said that the Northern Corridor, of course, as a logistic institution, requires investing processes, that is, enhancing custom processes, and ensuring infrastructure is developed to allow for seamless mobility of goods and services.
“So in the case of South Sudan, we already have initiatives that are in place, one of which, in relation to processes, is automation of custom systems for the country. We have initiated engagement with the government of South Sudan”.
“We have engaged with donors and resources are being mobilized to automate our customs systems. Once that is done, and then our cargo shall be secured from the port of Mombasa all the way to Juba. It will not have to be disturbed or unpacked along the way,” Deng added.
Mary Akech, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Transport said that the meeting taking place in Juba is very important to them as government because they always travel abroad to attend the meetings and yet they have capacity as a country to host the same meeting.
“We are going to review a number of policies, including procurement manual, financial manual. We are also going to approve an appointment of one of the directors for infrastructure development. And we are also going to recruit a deputy director in the position that the current executive secretary has vacated when he vies for the most senior positions which he succeeded and today he is holding,” said Akech.
She said that meeting will also look into the code of conduct of the secretariat staff.
The Northern Corridor is a multimodal trade route linking to the maritime Port of Mombasa, which serves the Member States of Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan and Uganda under the Northern Corridor Transit and Transport Agreement (NCTTA) in a bid to promote regional cooperation by facilitating interstate and transit trade. The Corridor is monitored and coordinated by the Northern Corridor Transit and Transport Coordination Authority (NCTTCA).
