Juba-Rumbek highway at risk of closure during rainy season – official

The Undersecretary of the Ministry of Roads and Bridges has warned that the Juba-Rumbek highway could become impassable again during the rainy season.

Gabriel Makur Amour made the warning during an inspection of the 394-kilometre highway from Juba to Rumbek in Lakes State.

Makur says the ministry is working with contractor Shandong High-Speed to identify sections that need urgent repairs, including a bridge and other critical infrastructure.

“We are anticipating that this road also with the heavy rains that are coming, it will also be closed. And if it is closed, people will go back to the same scenario,” he said, speaking to state-owned broadcaster SSBC.

Makur says the ministry is planning urgent work on key sections of the highway.

“Then we thought that we’ll come here and see what are the mechanism that we can use to make this road possible. The first thing what we did was to get the construction site where we will mobilize the equipment to build the real constructions of the road bridge, the bridge itself,” he added.

Meanwhile, the contractor says it carried out emergency work about a month ago after part of the road was cut off.

Shandong High-Speed representative Kai Wai Yu says the company is mobilizing additional equipment to continue construction and is studying emergency measures for the old Banan Bridge.

“Around 1 month ago, the road was cut off. We carried out some urgent intervention to keep this critical road open. Meanwhile, this is the old Naam Bridge behind us. We will study the bridge and develop an emergency plan to ensure the road remains open. We will bring more equipment and continue the work,” he added.

The Juba-Rumbek highway is one of the country’s major routes, connecting the capital with Lakes State and other parts of the Greater Bahr el Ghazal region.

The Juba-Rumbek highway is one of the country’s major routes, connecting the capital with Lakes and other parts of the Greater Bahr el Ghazal region.