Traders told to construct own road

Jonglei State Chamber of Commerce tells traders to contribute SSP60,000 each to renovate roads in Bor’s main market.

The Union of Traders in Jonglei State has ordered businesses in Bor town to contribute SSP 60,000 each for the renovation of roads within the main market.

The chairperson of the Jonglei State Chamber of Commerce, Ajak Garang Kuorwel, said the decision was reached after Bor Municipal Council, which is responsible for road rehabilitation, said it had no funds.

“We had a meeting with the authorities of Bor municipal council and they clarified to us that they do not have enough money to renovate the main market. “What they agreed to is that they would dig a water channel to the riverside to drain water from the market,” Ajak said.

Ajak said each shop has been ordered to contribute SSP 60,000 and appealed to the traders to comply with the order to enable them to complete the work before the rainy season intensifies.

“We have ordered each shop to pay SSP60,000, in which the landlord will pay SSP30,000 and the tenant SSP30,000,’’ he said.

 “We saw that there is no other alternative of doing that since the government has no money and the little taxes collected from us are used for other purposes then we decided to contribute and renovate the roads in the market,” Ajak stressed.

He appealed to the business community to build trust in their leaders and comply with the order as the money will be used for the intended purpose.

There are about 425 shops at Marol (one) market and if all of them contributed, then the total would exceed SSP 25 million an equivalent of $ 63,000. Ajak said the project quotation for the renovation of roads within the market is $43,000.