Yei Residents Welcome Start of Major Road Works

(YEI RIVER COUNTY) – Residents in Yei town have expressed strong support for a newly launched road rehabilitation project carried out by the Government of South Sudan in collaboration with the United Nations Mission in South Sudan.

The work is focused on the internal road network of the border county and has been welcomed as an important step towards improving local connectivity and access to services.

The activities began on Wednesday morning with the rehabilitation of the road linking Yei town to Yei Airstrip. Funding and technical support for the effort is being provided by the UN Mission.

Yei River County Commissioner Emmanuel Taban Seme said the project would offer direct benefits to the county, which serves as a major transit point for travellers and goods moving between South Sudan and neighbouring countries. He noted that the poor condition of bridges and roads, especially during the rainy season, had made travel challenging in recent months.

Commissioner Taban also made a public appeal for the initiative to be expanded in order to include market access roads and to address potholes in residential areas. He stressed that improvements in road infrastructure could help reduce incidents of insecurity, including cases of abduction, and create better access to basic services.

Local residents have also welcomed the initiative. Elias Diko, who lives in the hai Guafa area, said the grading of the airstrip road is useful but called on the authorities and UNMISS to widen the scope of the works.

He asked for roads linking areas such as Juba-Dar el Salam, Jamia, Lomuko, Kanjor, Erap, Mission, TTC, Nyakama, Wuluturu, Dam, Jigomoni, the Yei-Day-Reconcile Road and Newsite to be included in future rehabilitation efforts.

Another resident, Mary Tiyu, also voiced support for the project but urged the national and state level authorities to allocate additional funds for road rehabilitation. She said that locally available machinery provided by the UN Mission should be fully utilised in order to help open up all the internal roads in Yei.

Marko Deng, who lives in the Lomuku area of Yei town, congratulated the county authorities for launching the programme and encouraged the local community to support the implementation of the rehabilitation works. He said Yei is often regarded as “a small London in South Sudan” and argued that the town deserves quality infrastructure and faster development.

Summary of Key Road Rehabilitation Priorities in Yei Town