Gov’t mulls Juba Nile Bridge rehabilitation, business community reacts

The business fraternity in South Sudan is grumbling over yet another possible traffic snarl-up for motorists entering and exiting the capital as the government intends to rehabilitate the older lane of the Juba Nile Bridge.
This comes after the government reopened the once-broken lane after nearly three months of reconstruction work. The panic that traffic inconvenience might resume has emerged within the business circle as another month-long renovation exercise looms.
Among boda-boda riders, fear that slow operation as a result of traffic congestion could slow down their regular income.
Budi Joseph, a pharmacy attender-turned Boda Boda rider said the initiation of the rehabilitation process while a positive move would also mean reduced earning as a normal timeframe for their activities will be jeopardized.
“It’s good that the government plans to fix the remaining side of the bridge, which is quite developmental. But this is going to another difficult moment for the business community and this time we are uncertain how long the whole process will take.
“I’m into the business of Boda Boda and I understand that some people who are also into this business are given those motorbikes, they are not the actual owners. So, if the owner says he or she needs a specific amount in a day you may not raise if you operate across the bridge because of the delay,” he said.
A woman who spoke anonymously wished that the process of reconstructed will this time be scaled-up because residents from the outskirt of Juba also face the same fate when coming to buy goods across the bridge.
“It’s not easy waiting like what we have experienced before. Not only the motorists suffering but also the passengers they carry have so much of their time wasted. We hope for the best this time,” she said as her baby chuckles.
Taxi operator Ladu Paul stressed that relations between drivers and passengers usually worsen with frustration that stems from traffic congestion. Impatient passengers have occasionally walked out of vans and Ladu worries a repeat of that moment remains a possibility.
“Great move by the government to reconstruct the road, we should brace for whatever challenges that may arise with it. As I speak I experienced moments where passengers got angry and walked out of my car because they couldn’t wait due to high traffic jams, but there’s nothing we can do,” he said.
Alan Pearson, Juba Nile Bridge Construction Site Advisor, said the plan is to upgrade the whole bridge, which he said was damaged by road users, especially careless drivers.
“We plan to raise the whole bridge, put the bridge on rollers, and once that’s done we’re going to push the bridge, take off the damaged pieces, and replace them with new pieces.
“Now, one reason why the work may be a little bit slow is that the bridge is damaged and the bridge has been damaged by the road users, not by us, by the road users. They damage the bridge. When you look around you see broken pieces. They were not broken by the wind but they were broken by the people crashing into them too fast, driving without care and attention,” Pearson said.
Pearson said the process usually takes time because they have to be very careful and protect soldiers and bridge builders. To truck drivers, Pearson said driving beyond speed limits is the major cause of damage to the bridge.
Built in 1974, the Juba Nile Bridge connects South Sudan to neighboring Uganda and the rest of the East African Community.
In a country that depends on imports for food and other services, the disruption of transport across the Nile – world’s second-largest river – causes delays that trigger unprecedented price hikes as business people hedge against losses.
Wholesalers and retailers alike find themselves on the back-foot as the possibility of losses looks real because of the long queues of vehicles waiting to cross the bridge. Most times it took more than three hours.
“Bridges and roads link businesses and communities. Goods are taken from one point to another point very fast,” Salvatore Garang de Mabior, the Minister of Finance, told reporters in April.
The Juba Nile Bridge consists of two adjacent 252-meter spans over the White Nile on the Juba-Nimule Road. The bridge provides the only access over the River Nile to South Sudan. It was built in 1974 during the regime of Jaafar Nimeiri, before the cessation of South Sudan in 2011 from the Khartoum regime.
A new bridge, the Freedom Bridge under construction would have been completed in 2018 but a volatile political environment hampered its successful completion.
Senior government officials who reside along the exit route of the country also feel the pinch inflicted by waiting for hours in time of traffic jams.
The International Monetary Fund has predicted a six percent economic growth within Africa, and South Sudan is poised to take the lead despite the fragile political environment.
However, prediction can amount to nothing without the necessary infrastructure, particularly an efficient arterial transport system that links South Sudan to the East African region.
The Juba-Nimule Road is a section of the Great North Road that also links cape town in South Africa to Cairo in Egypt and the rest of the continent.
The Juba Nile Bridge renovation contract is being undertaken by the Rhino Company, which has also worked on similar projects in other parts of the country.
“They have been doing this wonderful work in other areas even when some areas like Bor was cut off. They also worked in Sika Rumbek, then Sika Maridi. Maridi was also having problems when the road was cut off by heavy rains. It was not repaired for so many years. So Rhino Company did their best,” Garang applauded.
In April, the Minister of Roads and Bridges Simon Mijak Mijok conceded that the ministry was dealing with a critical challenge saying, the breaking down of the bridge amounts to a national security concern.