The new air control tower at Juba International Airport. (-)

The Minister of Transport has announced that South Sudan will soon assume full control of its upper airspace following the completion of its Chinese-built Air Traffic Management System.

The mega construction project started in 2020 after the government contracted China Harbor Engineering Company.

According to the agreement, the South Sudan government will pay the company 6.2 million US dollar every 21^st of January, and July.

But the project stalled in 2022 after the company suspended the work over the government’s noncompliance with the payment schedule.

It had since been unclear when the construction resumed, but on Thursday, a joint high-level visit by national ministers and Chinese diplomats inspected the air traffic management system project.

In a statement, the Minister of Transport, Madut Biar Yel said South Sudan is now equipped to take full control of its upper airspace management and enhance the safety of civil aviation in the country.

“I want to give this message to the people of South Sudan that very soon, we are going to take over the control of our airspace that will include three important sovereign areas that I just mentioned,” Madut said.

“This is a landmark achievement for our country. It is a landmark achievement to the region and the world because this is going to coordinate all the international flights that are passing through our airspace.”