Sudan continues construction of Darfur road

June 9, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – Sudan has begun constructing a concrete road linking the provincial capitals of South and North Darfur States despite climate of insecurity in the western region.

The ministry of civil planning in South Darfur State on Thursday announced the beginning of the construction of a concrete road between Ed-al-Firsan area in Nyala town, the state capital of South Darfur, and Um Dafoug area in El-Fashir, the state capital of North Darfur, as part of a Chinese-funded project called the Al-Inqaz Western Route.

Speaking to the pro-government website Sudan Media Center, the minister of civil planning in South Darfur, Ibrahim Hassan Atim, pointed out that the citizens who resided at the road’s destination were evicted.

He also revealed that the state had received a delegation of foreign and local experts who would conduct feasibility studies on constructing a road connecting Sudan and Chad.

The so-called Al-Inqaz [Salvation] Western Route, named after the original alias of president Al-Bashir’s regime, is a road network project aimed at connecting Darfur’s three states with each other and with the capital Khartoum as well as the Central African Republic and Chad.

The project’s implementation officially started in 1998 but it was later stalled amid reports on the involvement of top government officials in embezzling the project’s fund.

China’s Electric Power Construction Corp, SEPCO, is undertaking the construction of Al-Inqaz Western Road on a four-percent-interest loan from the Chinese government. According to Sudanese officials, 30 percent of the road’s shares are owned by local companies.

Sudan’s grossly-underdeveloped western region of Darfur has been steeped in a civil conflict since 2003 when rebels took up arms against the central government, accusing it of neglecting the region.

Darfur conflict claimed the lives of 300, 000 people and displaced 2.7 million, according to UN figures. Sudan says only 10,000 people died.

(ST)