The transport infrastructure in Sudan needs investments in order to help economic growth and decrease suffering among the population especially during the rainy season, Lucy Jubara has the details
The Government of Sudan plans to link 26 states through a network of roads spanning 30,000 kilometers. The plan is part of Sudan’s five-year plan to foster development and promote peace. Only 3,000 km of road has been constructed so far.
The Federal Minister of Transport, Roads and Bridges, Philip Thon Leek, said the federal ministry is responsible for national high ways and railways, he added:
“The Federal Ministry of Transport, Road and Bridges has a specific plan for Southern Sudan. First of all, we are responsible for the national highways, the railway line and river transport which connect state to state.”
Sudan, the largest country in the African continent, is a developing country which endured a bloody civil war that ended with the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in 2005. Since then, the country has been struggling to construct new roads. The Ministry of Transport, Roads and Bridges is trying to get funds for seven plans intended to give access to rural areas:
“So far we have a number of plans, one on roads and bridges. We have seven unity corridors and we have managed to get funding for parts of two corridors. One of them is a route that is called the peace road that links Renk, Malakal and Sobat. The road is about 345 kilo meters long and consists of a bridge over river Sobat. The work is currently in progress and is scheduled to be completed in forty months depending on when the project begins. The Chinese has provided funding for the project.”
The Unity Support Fund financed the road that connects Abyei, Gogerial and Wau, but the Ministry has not been able to find funds for the other five plans. Minister Philip Thon Leek explains:
“As for the other five corridors one of the other route is E’dein, Raja and Wau, for this route we have not found funding The other one is Kadugli ,Higlig ,Bantieu and Rumbek. We have funding for survey and design only. The other corridor is for Tolody and Malakal. For this route, we also have not got funding to build but only for study and design. The other one is Damazin and Renk: this too has only been designed.”
The CPA stated the need to construct a road from Halfa in the north to Nemuly in South Sudan under the name “Peace road”. Minister Philip Thon Leek said funds are still being raised to build roads in the southern part of Sudan:
“The peace road is from Sobat river to Bor and Juba, we are talking at the moment and we are hope to get funds to complete that road, because you can not call it a peace road until it reaches Nimuly and Halfa: there cannot be a missing link in between.”
In the past, railways were an important mean for transporting goods. The first line was built in mid 1870s from Wadi Halfa and construction ended in 1990s in Bahal El Gazal but the service has been reduced due to several reasons. Mr. Leek said the railway’s reconstruction process has started already and will extend to Uganda:
“We are rehabilitating the railway line that starts from Babanusa. In September construction will reached Awel and presently the railway line extends about sixty kilometers from Wau. We hope that within the next one month construction will reach Wau. There are also plans between the governor of Uganda and Sudan to connect Sudan and Uganda from Wau through Juba, Nemuly and Golo in Uganda.”
Mr. Philip added more plans are underway for railways to connect Damazin, Malakal, and Juba to Kenya but the ministry is still looking for funds.
In 2007 the Government privatized river transport but the private company only rebuilt the existing river ports without building new ones. The minister mentioned that there is a plan to build three river ports:
“We in the Ministry of Transport through funding from the Unity Support Fund, we started constructing three ports in Shamby, Thiamthiam and Mangula. After finishing these three we plan to construct another three ports, one in Akeir to serve central Jonguli, a new one Malakal and then in Renk. We hope after finishing these ports in three months we can embark on the construction of the other three ports. We are also surveying the river from Kosti, Juba in order to identify where ranging and navigation aids are needed to be posted on the river.”
Roads, railways and river transportations will boost the economy, foster security, provide transportation into villages and lead to an increase in crop productionin south Sudan. Constructing new road networks and maintaining existing ones will provide people with access throughout the country and ensure movement during the rainy season in the south, particularly between July and December
Miraya Fm's Lucy Jubara speaks with Philip Thon Leek, Minister of Transportation, Roads and Bridges and discusses the present state of transportation in Sudan and transportation plans in the pipeline for Sudan's future.
