The outbound lane of the Juba bridge has been reopened, easing the usual heavy traffic between Juba and Shirakat area.
Hon. Simon Mijok is the national minister of Road and Bridges. He said the bridge was on the verge of collapse, prompting the government to close the outbound lane for repair.
He said the damaged parts had fixed and was a necessary to embark on the maintenance because it was in a bad shape, putting people’s lives that cross daily at a safety risk.
“I thank the people of Gumbo and Shirakat because they have been facing difficulties reaching their houses for the last two months. Today is the end of suffering; the traffic will go normal,” he said.
He also commended the role of the United Kingdom for helping repair the bridge and the effort of South Sudanese engineers to complete the maintenance work on time.
Mijok said the next step of maintenance service is to set up cameras and painting to make it a source of tourism attraction but he didn’t disclose when the work will start.
Peter Atem, Managing Director of Rhino Stars, a South Sudanese construction company said the delay was caused by the shipment of spares parts from the United Kingdom.
He appealed to the government to install a weighing machine that would help stop overloaded trucks from crossing.
Atem there is a need to empower South Sudanese engineers to maintain the bridge once the foreign engineers are unavailable. “Build your people. When you build your people, you bring economic power to your citizens”. Atem said.
The minister of transport, Hon. Madut Biar said the bridge is significant to the people of South Sudan because the country is divided by the Nile, and it is a bridge that connects it to East African member states.
Hon. Biar said that apart from the Freedom bridge, which is not complete, they plan to build the third bridge in the north of Juba near Gondokoro.
Juba bridge was built in 1974 following the Addis Ababa agreement by the UK Royal Coat.