Yei-Maridi bridge.

YEI, (Eye Radio) – The Commissioner of Yei River County has said a lifeline wooden bridge connecting the area with Maridi County in Western Equatoria State has been impaired by an overloaded vehicle.

Emmanuel Taban stated that the damage to the Goli bridge linking communities in the two regions, will affect trade and movement of people.

“It was damaged. A vehicle was coming from that side, and it looked like the load was very heavy, causing some damage, and it needs some renovation, but it has not collapsed,” he told Eye Radio.

“This is the only bridge. Sometimes some sick people need to be brought here [Yei] for referral, and some people want to come here for marketing or different purposes, and now they are cut off.”

The commissioner said the situation will also hinder access to those in Maridi from accessing health care services in Yei town. He revealed that the driver of the vehicle that damaged the bridge will assist in fixing the bridge.

“We have instructed the owner of the vehicle to pull out the vehicle, and then they will help in fixing the bridge because this is the only bridge connecting the Yei-Maridi road.”

South Sudan remains one of the countries with the most underdeveloped road networks in the world, according to the World Bank.

The global finance organization states that most interstate roads consist of badly or non-maintained dirt roads, with only 300km of sealed roads and one sealed international highway linking Juba to Uganda. This is despite the government’s allocation of a huge volume of crude oil to Chinese companies to build roads in 2019.