Local communities in Malakal rehabilitate their own road

By Richard Ruati

February 6, 2010 (MALAKAL) — The road connecting the estates of Dengreshofu and Hai Malakia in Malakal, Upper Nile State used to be one of the worst in town. Today, five years after Sudan’s Comprehensive Peace Agreement or CPA, the road is being rehabilitated by local community members.

Under the USAID funded Sudan Infrastructure Services Project (SISP) Capacity Building Program, Malakal Labor-based contractor, Okuic for Engineering, Ltd., was contracted to improve and maintain the serviceability of selected roads in Upper Nile State. Employing over 50 skilled and unskilled women and men laborers, Okuic accumulated over 1,000 people-days of activity for 2 months between December 2009 and January 2010 averaging over 21,000 Sudanese Pounds (Sdg) or about $8,200 US of earnings per month distributed into the local economy.

Overall the SISP Capacity Building Program in December 2009 alone accumulated over 3,100 people-days worth of work in 6 states averaging over 62,000 Sdg per month ($24,000). These numbers will increase over the next three months as 17 more new Labor-based contractors and 9 returning contractors come on line.

According to a community leader Dibin Deng Farag, trips between the two important estates were extremely difficult, with motorcycles and bicycles frequently getting stuck in the Black Cotton Soil so prevalent in this region of Southern Sudan.

Communities on and adjacent to this road have watched it decay over the years while blaming the local government for no action. Implementing USAID’s SISP training contracts for “Local Labor-based road maintenance,” communities understand their responsibility to fix dilapidated public infrastructure, and they have rallied together to rehabilitate the road. During the civil war Malakal town roads were bad to worse and from worse to desperate conditions.

The local community doing this extraordinary road maintenance work has taken this motto: “If the government comes to rehabilitate this road, it will find us working hard. If it doesn’t, we will continue without stopping; we are changing with Sudan Infrastructure Services Project (SISP).”

So far 3 culverts have been installed They labor day after day, trimming back sand and using aggregate stones to build culverts to fix a nonexistent drainage system that only few dared to cross.

They understand that maintenance of the road is imperative for economic revitalization and to increase trade for their farm produce as well as access to health centers. Opening the road also provides access to water point facilities.

This spontaneous initiative is an example of how USAID encourages community reintegration and participation. SISP is implemented by Louis Berger Group through its subcontractor Okuic for Engineering & Commerce Contracting. The SISP program promotes improved infrastructural stability in Southern Sudan war-affected areas by employing people from their communities.

This effort results in better local, regional and national understanding of issues that are keys to the country’s socio-economic transition and stability. To support these objectives, SISP uses one basic tool: a local labor-based road maintenance Contractor to put back to work war-affected people in economic growth and recovery programs that support business opportunities among local communities and community-identified activities that are a priority for the economic and social revitalization of the community.

At the start of the project in south Malakal stands a giant Billboard, it reads, “USAID Sudan, from the America People, Ministry of Transport and Roads GOSS, Malakal-Dengreshofu Road Labour-Based Road Maintenance Training contract, Implemented by Louis Berger Group, SISP Capacity Building program, Funded by United States Agency for International Development, Subcontractor Okuic for Engineering & Commerce Contracting. The billboard depicts how collaborative efforts between the stakeholders and partners work together in the implementation of local labor-based projects.

Mr. Obac Tam, a teacher at Darsalam Primary school located along the Dengreshofu road, says that, the ”drainage system will help pupils to get easily to their school, solving the walk through muddy and standing water en- route to the school.” “[I] recommend county commissioner to come and witness this unique work,” he added.

Kwuth Kang Deng, Upper Nile State Minister of Physical Infrastructure appreciates the effort GOSS and USAID are doing to rehabilitate the internal roads in Malakal town. The culverts are useful during rain season (summer); we request more of these projects so that [we] can extend the same services to the counties, as they will result to tangible outcome, says minister Kang. Veronica Otwel, 32, a mother of five children testifies that her work for this labour-based project helps to feed the family, and she uses part of the money she is making to pay the school fees of her children. Likewise Veronica, Mary Bul, 45, understands that, it is her responsibly too.

Okuic Laa Wol heads the Malakal Local Labour-Based contracting firm. He says “I am thrilled with how supportive the local people have been to the project. ”Our people feel more aided than stranded, extending his thanks to the donors and government of Southern (Sudan)”.

The area, formerly, was environmentally unfriendly due to lack of drainage, for school pupils; with the installation of concrete culverts life is easier for pedestrians.

However, Okuic still faces high prices of construction materials like sand and murram/gravel, not naturally found in Malakal, which results in high transportation costs from merchants importing them from Khartoum or Juba.

(ST)