File: Streetlights along the road from the State House - SPLM House. Credit/Ayok Amet

Night street lights have returned to Juba after nearly six months of darkness.

The Ezra power company had turned off the street lights over the national government’s failure to pay for it.

But the streets were occasionally lit during public occasions, the most recent was during the signing ceremony of the Sudanese peace agreement in October.

However last evening, the power supplier turned on the lights on the directive of the government of Central Equatoria State.

In a meeting with the power distributor yesterday, governor Emmanuel Adil Anthony directed the company and the state technocrats to devise modalities of paying the power company.

It is not clear how much the state government will spend to keep street lights on.

“The governor told us these street lights should be on… the responsibility was not taken by the Juba City Council but now we have agreed for the street lights to be on and give the public service,” said Gabrael Ezra, the managing director of Ezra group.

The press secretary in the Office of the Central Equatoria governor said the street lights will improve security in Juba.

“By electrifying Juba specifically the street lights, we are going to minimize issues of insecurity that have been threatening lives of people within in the city,” Derick Derickson told Eye Radio on Friday.

The electricity operated by Ezra Company was launched in November last year.