VP Taban Deng

The Vice President of Infrastructure Cluster has called on the South Sudan Road Authority to impose existing regulations to protect Freedom Bridge and other main roads in the country.

Taban Deng Gai says commercial trucks using the newly inaugurated bridge must adhere to the East Africa Vehicle Load Regulations.

Freedom Bridge was commissioned yesterday, to lift the burden of traffic off the ailing Juba Bridge.

Addressing the commissioning ceremony on Thursday, vice president Taban called on the Road Authority to enforce the regulations.

“This Bridge comes with great responsibilities, and the chief among them is the overloading of trucks and violation of weight control. I urge South Sudan Road Authority to immediately come up with measures to curb these impunities by road users.” he said.

Taban stated that trucks bound for the country often carry double the required loads due to the failure of the road authority to implement the regulations.

“You know when the trucks leave Mombasa, a load of one truck is put in two big lorry trucks because of the regulations of EAC, where you are allowed only to carry the maximum capacity, but when the trucks reach Nimule, this load of two trucks is put in one truck, because we have no regulations here” he asserted.

The Infrastructure vice president also believes the Juba – Nimule road has worn out in no time due to the bulks of commercial trucks overusing it.

South Sudan is a landlocked country and depends heavily on imports from the East African region.

The 50-year-old Juba Bridge has until yesterday been the country’s only lifeline, importing 80% of commodities from the region.

The bridge has however undergone several repairs as it crumbles under the bulk of under-regulated commercial trucks.

The Regional Vehicle Load Act 2013 outlines that an overloaded vehicle shall be detained without a charge by the national roads authority for the period prescribed in the regional operation and procedures.