Simon Mijok, the National Minister of Road and Bridges - Credit | Office of the President | April 4, 2022

The National Minister of Road and Bridges has emphasized the need to carry out consultancy on-road studies before the start of road construction projects.

Minister Simon Mijok said the consultancy will help the government in determining the cost and timeline of the projects.

He made the statement while answering questions during a summon by the specialized committee on economics and finance at the national parliament on Friday.

“We have discussed the importance of carrying out consultations in roads study, so we can have the clear cost of the road and timeline for implementation all the way handled by a consultant. We have covered the important roads,” Mijok said.

In 2018, President Salva Kiir, during a visit to China, signed a road construction deal with the Chinese government.

It was agreed that Chinese companies will be given crude oil in return for tarmac road construction from Juba to the states.

In the following year, the government allocated 20,000 barrels of crude oil per day to Chinese firms to build roads in the country.

For his part, the chairperson of the finance committee Changkuoth Bichok, said there is a need to construct the road linking Juba and Unity State for easy access to the refinery in the oil-rich state.

“In Unity state, we have a refinery and we have diesel and petrol but it cannot reach Juba and another area because of the road. That is why we called the minister to update us on this issue,” said Bichok.

“We can see the way forward and how we can help the citizens of this country because of another crisis also happening in the world.”