The Minister of Roads and Bridges, Simon Mijok Mijak, yesterday re-opened the outbound lane of the Juba Bridge after its closure for rehabilitation, which lasted for 45 days.
Mijak said the rehabilitation of the bridge had rescued the country from witnessing an impending major disaster that would have happened at the crossing way.
“We are going to continue as the new bridge is coming up. We are advocating for another bridge at C4 north of Juba. These bridges are facilities to create happiness and wealth for the people of South Sudan, ” he said.
Mijak said the construction of the Freedom Bridge was at its final stage of completion and would be open to the public next year.
“Now we have a better opportunity to regulate traffic, and we will work on that together with my team because we have the junction to Bor, Torit, and Nimule. So, we have enough space for heavy vehicles to be given time to cross at any time, ” Mijak stated.
Caution needed
He warned motorists, especially truckers, against going beyond the required carrying capacity, adding that doing so could speed up the wear and tear of the newly renovated bridge.
“The enemy of this bridge is overloading. You can see 20 to 45 tonnes, but in the real sense; it is over 100 tonnes, which is almost above the capacity,” he said.
Peter Atem, the head of construction at Rhino Star Company, said they managed to finish the project as they had promised within 45 days.
“It has not been easy. We have suffered, but we are happy [because] we managed to finish the construction of the bridge as agreed. Whether we are paid or not, we have finished our project as promised,” he said.
Musa Hakim, a driver and a frequent traveller to Torit, said they faced a lot of challenges during the construction period and that it was a relief for the work to end.
“I faced a lot of issues. Sometimes we were stopped on one side of the bridge for two to three hours waiting for those to come, yet I was doing business. So this has made us waste a lot of time, ” Hakim said.
He added that they also made losses because before the rehabilitation of the bridge began, he used to travel three times to Torit, but that had been reduced.
“This bridge is very important. This is where commodities are brought into the country and even those who travel to Uganda and other countries.”
John, a Boda Boda rider who stays in Gumbo-Sherikat, said he felt relieved by the reopening of the bridge.
He described the 45 days as a punishment for him due to the congestion of people and cars attempting to cross the bridge.
The lane of the Juba-Bridge was closed on October 2, 2021, for repair.
The Juba Bridge was constructed in 1972 and the last time it was repaired was in 2008.
The Juba Bridge is the only link as it connects South Sudan to the East African region where most imports are brought into the country.