Juba trade halted due to impassable roads
Sep 10, 2007
THE lucrative business along the Kampala-Juba trade route has been brought to halt. Unlike previous incidences where the trade was jeopardised by insecurity, this time round, trade can no longer go on due to impassable roads.
By Frank Mugabi
THE lucrative business along the Kampala-Juba trade route has been brought to halt. Unlike previous incidences where the trade was jeopardised by insecurity, this time round, trade can no longer go on due to impassable roads.
Hundreds of Juba-bound and returning trucks that were diverted from the impassable Gulu-Atiak-Nimule road to the Arua-Yei route are stuck again after sections between Arua and Koboko got muddy.
Last week, the works ministry temporarily closed the Gulu-Atiak-Nimule road to vehicles after sections of the road between Pabbo to Atiak were extensively damaged by heavy rains. Vehicles heading to south Sudan were advised to go via Arua.
This, however, did not seem a sustainable alternative since the Arua-Koboko road had been in bad shape for the last eight months due to heavy rains and lack of maintenance.
The expected happened on Monday (September 3) when a fuel tanker and a Fuso truck loaded with merchandise got stuck at a muddy section near Ayi bridge, blocking traffic from all sides. The trucks were both bound for Juba.
Residents who opened a diversion through an open air livestock market took advantage of the crisis to charge each vehicle sh5,000.
They erected a makeshift barricade at the entrance where each driver paid before being allowed to use the diversion.
“This is our land. We have the right to impose a charge to compensate for the damage caused,†a local leader who was manning the barricade said.
The diversion did not serve for long before one bus and three trucks got stuck there. One of the trucks had sacks of maize which had to be off loaded.
A total of 32 trucks were held up in the queue. Some drivers lit charcoal stoves to prepare their meals.
Nothing was being done about the wedged trucks for fear of turning over the fuel tanker which was slanting towards the ground.
Tempers and emotions were also high among the drivers who kept hurling insults and anti-government sentiments at each government vehicle they saw.
“The situation is bad because we are not sure when the road will be repaired. The Government has not helped us. We are doing everything by ourselves yet some of these things require a grader,†Hamza Kigongo, who was heading to Juba with a Tata lorry loaded with merchandise, lamented.
“They told us to leave the Atiak route and brought us here for more misery. What is the Government’s real intention in doing this? Do they care about our suffering?†he asked.
Another driver said they were enduring enough suffering in Sudan caused by poor roads and harassment and did not need more of it “in our own country.â€
They appealed to the Government to construct all weather roads as a permanent solution.
The Arua LC5 chairman, Richard Andama Ferua, who visited the scene on Wednesday (September 5), urged the works ministry to rescue the stranded traders.
Transport state minister Simon Ejua said the road had been affected by heavy rains.
He said road maintenance was being done by a private contractor who would resume duty as soon as the rains subside.
“The contractor is supposed to start work but the rain is too much,†Ejua explained.
He said the design and surveys for finally tarmacking the road would be carried out next year.
THE lucrative business along the Kampala-Juba trade route has been brought to halt. Unlike previous incidences where the trade was jeopardised by insecurity, this time round, trade can no longer go on due to impassable roads.
Hundreds of Juba-bound and returning trucks that were diverted from the impassable Gulu-Atiak-Nimule road to the Arua-Yei route are stuck again after sections between Arua and Koboko got muddy.
Last week, the works ministry temporarily closed the Gulu-Atiak-Nimule road to vehicles after sections of the road between Pabbo to Atiak were extensively damaged by heavy rains. Vehicles heading to south Sudan were advised to go via Arua.
This, however, did not seem a sustainable alternative since the Arua-Koboko road had been in bad shape for the last eight months due to heavy rains and lack of maintenance.
The expected happened on Monday (September 3) when a fuel tanker and a Fuso truck loaded with merchandise got stuck at a muddy section near Ayi bridge, blocking traffic from all sides. The trucks were both bound for Juba.
Residents who opened a diversion through an open air livestock market took advantage of the crisis to charge each vehicle sh5,000.
They erected a makeshift barricade at the entrance where each driver paid before being allowed to use the diversion.
“This is our land. We have the right to impose a charge to compensate for the damage caused,†a local leader who was manning the barricade said.
The diversion did not serve for long before one bus and three trucks got stuck there. One of the trucks had sacks of maize which had to be off loaded.
A total of 32 trucks were held up in the queue. Some drivers lit charcoal stoves to prepare their meals.
Nothing was being done about the wedged trucks for fear of turning over the fuel tanker which was slanting towards the ground.
Tempers and emotions were also high among the drivers who kept hurling insults and anti-government sentiments at each government vehicle they saw.
“The situation is bad because we are not sure when the road will be repaired. The Government has not helped us. We are doing everything by ourselves yet some of these things require a grader,†Hamza Kigongo, who was heading to Juba with a Tata lorry loaded with merchandise, lamented.
“They told us to leave the Atiak route and brought us here for more misery. What is the Government’s real intention in doing this? Do they care about our suffering?†he asked.
Another driver said they were enduring enough suffering in Sudan caused by poor roads and harassment and did not need more of it “in our own country.â€
They appealed to the Government to construct all weather roads as a permanent solution.
The Arua LC5 chairman, Richard Andama Ferua, who visited the scene on Wednesday (September 5), urged the works ministry to rescue the stranded traders.
Transport state minister Simon Ejua said the road had been affected by heavy rains.
He said road maintenance was being done by a private contractor who would resume duty as soon as the rains subside.
“The contractor is supposed to start work but the rain is too much,†Ejua explained.
He said the design and surveys for finally tarmacking the road would be carried out next year.