Juba-Rumbek road construction on progress recently | Credit | Eye Radio

Construction of the Juba-Rumbek highway has reportedly stalled after the government defaulted on its payment, according to the SPLM acting secretary-general.

Peter Lam Both visited the construction site – near Juba – on Tuesday to inquire why the work was slow.

The nearly 400-kilometer road project that connects the national capital to the Bahr El Ghazal region is being constructed by Shandong Hi-Speed Group Corporation.

The work was expected to be completed within 3 years.

But the SPLM Secretariat was informed by officials of the construction company that they had not received oil proceeds as earlier promised by the government.

The Shandong Hi-Speed company embarked on the 700-million-dollar project in early 2019.

The government had pledged to meet the cost gradually through the lifting of 30,000 barrels of crude oil per day.

In May 2020, the government halted work on the highway after heavy rains and floods washed away parts of the newly-spread asphalt.

After undertaking a review and redesign of the project, the company was granted permission to resume construction in December last year.

But nearly a year later, Peter Lam told SSBC that the company disclosed to him that the work has stalled over lack of money.

In June 2019, the cabinet entrusted the management of the highway construction funds to the Central bank.

The Ministry of Petroleum is to wire the allocated oil proceeds into an escrow account, then the bank transfers the money to the Chinese-owned Shandong High-speed group of companies.

It is not clear if the lack of the agreed transactions have affected the construction of the Juba – Terekeka – Yirol – Rumbek highway.

The Ministry of Roads had projected that a one-kilometer of tarmac road would cost the government about 1.5 million dollars.

The cost was attributed to the supposed thickness of the top layer of the tarmac, the asphaltic concrete to be used and the traffic envisaged.