SOUTH SUDAN STARTS TARMACKING OF JUBA – NIMULE HIGHWAY
The project to lay tarmac on this crucial highway, linking the South Sudan capital of Juba with the northern Ugandan municipality of Gulu, has been formally launched last week when President Salva Kiir, the US’ Consul General in Juba and contractors’ representatives met for the ceremony.
The highway is due to become a major road link to South Sudan’s southern neighbour and most important trading partner Uganda, and will – when it reaches Nimule – link with the highway to Gulu from where it connects to Kampala.
Over 190 KM are now being tarmacked by three contractors’ work teams, after 7 bridges crossing rivers were completed last year, as also reported here. The new highway is the first of its kind to be constructed in the South Sudan, notably NOT by the regime in Khartoum but through internal efforts and partnerships by the Government of South Sudan (GoSS) and a major section of the new highway is expected to be completed already when independence comes calling on the 09th of July this year and the Republic of South Sudan will come into formal existence.
The Ugandan part of the road will undergo re-construction commencing by later in 2011 and this portion will cover the section from Gulu to Nimule. Road connections are considered crucial to not just trade but also to attract tourist visitors to the South Sudan national parks, in particular the one at Nimule which is nearest to the border with Uganda. Watch this space.
