Civil society activist Edmund Yakani on Wednesday called on the City Council to prioritize essential services particularly roads improvement from tax revenue.   

By James Chatim

Juba City Council has been challenged to use the collected taxes proactively in developing roads within the city.

Civil society activist Edmund Yakani on Wednesday called on the City Council to prioritize essential services particularly roads improvement from tax revenue.   

The Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO) Executive Director raised concerns over deteriorating roads and potholes around several streets in Juba town, which, he says, cause congestion and accidents.

The activist emphasized that Juba, as the capital city is the image of the country, the host of the head of state and the place where he regularly moves to attend official functions. Thus, he said, Juba City Council needs to demonstrate full commitment by utilizing the taxes collected from the citizens to fix its infrastructure.

“I would like to bring a serious concern to the attention of the Lord Mayor of Juba City Council and his other structures of leadership of management and administration. This is on the status of infrastructure in Juba City Council, which is deteriorating and creating hardship for citizens to perform their duties and for others in delivering service to the common good of the citizens in the country,” Yakani said.

“It is common to see potholes around Juba’s main roads. At least with the few meetings that we hold, we have seen some being fixed, but still there are more potholes that are denting the image of the country,” he highlighted,” he said.

Yakani stated that the dilapidated infrastructure is creating a bad impression to the visitors coming to Juba who drive along these potholes.

“Therefore, I’m appealing to Lord Mayor and to the leadership of Juba City Council at the various structures that please take up the responsibility of improving infrastructure in the town. We know that you are collecting taxes every day from the public. Utilize it properly,” he said.

Edmund Yakani last month criticized Juba City Council for the poor infrastructure, specifically mentioning the high presence of potholes.

State Environment minister also mentioned that many of Juba’s paved roads lack proper drainage, which contributes to their deterioration and the formation of potholes, especially during the rainy season.

Public outcry over the bad state of roads would then pile up, leading to the lout outburst and questions from individuals, including Edmund Yakani, to call for proper use of tax revenue.

Last month, Yakani raised concerns over a two-kilometre road connecting Freedom Bridge to the Central Bank tarmac road in Juba, which has been left in a sorry state, despite serving as a key economic artery for the capital, Juba. And with the heavy weight pounded on it by heavy trucks ply it, he said it could deteriorate further.

Yakani urged the Vice President in charge of the Infrastructure Cluster, Hon. Taban Deng and the Minister of Roads and Bridges to act swiftly.

“This road may be short, but its value is huge. It is an economic lifeline and a matter of public safety and the time to fix it is now before it costs lives or dents the image of our capital,” Yakani emphasized.