Crane demolishes a building on an expanded road/courtesy

Officials from Central Equatorial and national governments have warned of applying the full force of the law against Juba city residents who have encroached on the roads.

According to the state Minister of Roads and Bridges, there are about 12 roads set to be tarmacked across the city.

He says some people encroached on the parameters of the city road network and their structures were red-marked for demolition three weeks ago.

Despite several warnings, the unnamed individuals have not adhered to the order.

Minister Mawa Moses says no citizen is above the law and anyone who has built on the road regardless of the status of the house, will be removed.

“No other citizen is above the law including us the ministers. If I have my only house and it happens to be on the roadside, it must be removed regardless.

“We have done these red marks 3 weeks ago and our technical teams have informed these people several times to remove their facilities and they were not able to do it.  There’s this mentality from South Sudanese where we want things to be done by force.”

Meanwhile, the National Minister of Roads and Bridges Simon Mijak Majak says encroaching into the roads is prohibited by the law.

Mr. Mijak says any citizens to abide by the law as they continue with the initiative to keep Juba City clean.

“The activity of encroaching on the road is not allowed by law, and we have been moving on the roads with the governor of Central Equatoria and the ministers to tell people to refrain and remove their structures from the roads.

“Those who are still, then there’s no way, we will use the law to visit them,” he said.