Kenha chairman Erastus Mwongera said the Kenya and South Sudan governments have coordinated the improvement of the highway to ensure social and economic benefits are met.

 

Turkana County Governor Josphat Nanok confirmed the reports and said that the road will cost US$ 512m and will take six years for the construction to be complete.

 

The 960km Eldoret-Juba road construction in Kenya is expected to change the lifestyles of the residents from pastoralists to entrepreneurs and also help fight poverty as the cost of transporting goods will reduce hence leading to the economic growth of West Pokot and Turkana counties .

 

“This road will help us fight poverty as the cost of transporting goods for sale is so high due to bad roads,” Mr. Nanok said.

 

South Sudan Roads under Secretary Gabriel Amour said this development will facilitate trade amongst millions of people and tackle insecurity.

 

Currently, the Eldoret-Juba road is in a deplorable state, partly due to high traffic by relief agencies’ heavy commercial vehicles taking supplies to South Sudan and lack of regular maintenance.

 

The new road construction project will be constructed to bitumen standards and a one-stop border post built at Nadapal besides other transport amenities.

 

South Sudan which is the youngest nation in Africa is currently trying to open up its economy to trade with partners in eastern Africa in a bid to strengthen its growth.

Source : constructionreviewonline.com