Rise In Commodity Prices Caused By Poor Road Network

This article was last updated on May 25, 2022

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The transportation of goods seemed as difficult starting from Uganda to South Sudan border because of recent flooding which cut off the road connecting Atiak district of Uganda with Nimule, a town at the South Sudan border.

Speaking to one of the businessmen yesterday in Bor, the Juba – Bor road caused them to pay a lot of money for hiring trucks for transportation of goods from Uganda via Juba to Bor.

The roads have forced us them to increase the prices to cover up the losses incurred on the way.

“We hired the trucks at higher prices and you see the seller always looks for profit and not to get losses,” Modi Philip told Gurtong.

Ali Mohamed a Somali businessman and one of the shop owners selling a variety of food items in Bor told Gurtong that the bad roads blocked many trucks that were helping them in transportation of goods.

Ali has said that they have spent about one month of their way from Juba to Bor due to the bad road.

“My track had a lot of problems on the way at Mangala and Gemeza, some goods were spoilt in the process of off loading the track when stacked, and uploading them
again after removing it,” he explained at Bor Pakuau checkpoint.

The commercial vehicles moving passengers from Bor to Juba have also increased their fares from 100 to 250 SSP.

Malith Lual, a driver said that they spend about two to three days before reaching Juba and if the Juba-Bor road is good, the passengers travelling to Juba only spent four hours.

Hiring a track of 40 tons to carry goods to Jonglei caused close to 10,000 pounds according to Abdalla Yusuf, a Somali who running a wholesale in Bor.
At Marol market in Bor on Tuesday, Beer, Sugar and Beans were among the goods that were on scarcity.

Shopkeepers dealing in these lines of businesses were not sure when they would receive them from Juba.

Geu Ajak, one of wholesale owners in Bor specialised in Beer selling had closed his shop due to lack of Beer.

Traders said he had left a month ago for Uganda to buy from the beer factory in Kampala.

In Bor a bottle of Beer is sold cost between 8 to 12 pounds in few places where it is accessible and the price per bottle had increased from 6 pounds to 10 pounds.

A 25 Kilogram of sugar is now 160 Souyth Sudanese pounds up from just 110 with the taxation officers at the Pakuau checkpoint saying they had received less revenue 
since August.

“In September, we spent three weeks without receiving any truck coming from Juba. That was the time rains were raining almost every day. They started to come at the end of September and now they will increase because dry season is almost approaching”, explained John Angau in Bor.