South Korea to assist in the planning of South Sudan’s new capital
By Toby Collins
June 17, 2011 (LONDON) – South Sudan signed a memorandum of understanding with a South Korean developer on cooperating in the construction of a new capital for South Sudan on Thursday.
Days before South Sudan officially becomes an independent state on 9 July, members of the Government of South Sudan signed the agreement with the troubled developer in Seoul, which was bailed out by the state in March 2011.
With disputes over land ownership with the indigenous Bari; disagreement over jurisdictions of administration by different levels of government; a lack of standardised housing; limited infrastructure; and chaotic, rapid expansion, there have been numerous discussions about the relocation of South Sudan’s capital. It is currently the old British colonial administration, Juba, in Central Equatoria state.
In 2010 there were controversial plans to invest US$10 billion in building cities in South Sudan in the shapes of animals, with Juba as a rhinoceros. The UN estimates that 90 percent of the population of South Sudan live on less than US$1 per day and many live without basic amenities.
In May 2011 a Government of South Sudan committee suggested Ramcial, Mangalla and Terekaka as potential relocation sites.
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Abyei Soil
South Korea to assist in the planning of South Sudan’s new capital
The best City to the country is the benefit for all can’t be realised on economic development and transformation of the Nation. Therefore, the idea of South Korean city developers is a welcoming move to South Sudan and Ramcial should be strategic position to locate the city.
Ahmed Chol
South Korea to assist in the planning of South Sudan’s new capital
Advise to GoSS/RoSS
Site of the new capital should be located somewhere along the Nile. Being close to the Nile solves several issues related to water, transportation and especially hydroelectricity. Missing this opportunity will create some logistical issues later if the capital is created in the middle of nowhere.
Things look fine now but when most people migrate from rural areas into the city(Juba) to find jobs or other opportunities especially if the government failed to take towns to the people. The Bari people will find themselves really squeezed on their land and there will be a constant struggle between them and the government. When people are taken to towns, the cities will be over crowded, there will few housing, The traffic jam will higher than that of Nairobi and Kampala. Accidents will be everywhere at every corner of the town as people will try to get from point A to point B. What I said here may not happen in 2012, but it could happen in 2021 or any time after that when the dust settles all over the south.
Therefore it is necessary to bear all this factors in mind, when surveyors are thinking about the Capital. So a capital needs ample land close to the Nile.
To avoid concentration of everything in one town, the government can also balance some government activities in all major towns e.g Yei Juba, Malakal, Wau, Torit, Bor, Yambio, Bentiu, Naser, Kapoeta, etc such that what is found in Juba can be found in any of the these towns. This will help in reduction of overpopulating Juba if it remains to be the capital in the long run.
Ahmed Chol, whatever begins in anger, ends in shame
Young
South Korea to assist in the planning of South Sudan’s new capital
South government should have conclude re-alocation of the city rather than signing memorandum of planning and others unnecesary documents.
onlysonmabi
South Korea to assist in the planning of South Sudan’s new capital
Hi my brothers don’t talk when you have not seen the place Ramciel have no water the best place is Pariak to Mangala to save all what we want.
Matot de Akech Matot
South Korea to assist in the planning of South Sudan’s new capital
South Korea are welcome to assist GOSS in planning of ROSS new capital city and my suggestion as a south sudan citizen . I can tell city shall be relocated in Ramciel land as it is located in ten states of south sudan government araes and if we come in term of regions its also recover three regional areas Ramciel is also a long the nile with recovering of good forest and nobody can saying again that here is my land we don’t want government to recover this area .but it does not meant that Ramciel is a land of no man it because nobody live there for this moment like so-called Juba of Baria , Mangalla etc .
Nhomlawda
South Korea to assist in the planning of South Sudan’s new capital
The first option is Juba should be the capital city of the new nation but with downtown located in Kondokoro Island and new survey and housing plan should be done in the old city of Juba to give better services to those who will live there – Juba view is good for a capital city – it is mountainous with wide river crossing through the city. Second option might be Mangalla Pariak Ngangala corridor but must be considered only if it is extremely important to leave Juba.
Bari should not be worried about their land anymore. South Sudan will get rid of tribe mentality in the future and we will see ourselves as a nation other than being tribes.
I think there is a total lost of direction in South Sudan whether it is political or economic/development direction.
Yesterday, it was reported that GOSS approved a new university – South Sudan do not need several public universities with sub standard education capacity and facilities but a few and well equipment for quality education and nation building.
Students are still loitering in Khartoum because the University of Juba campus is not built in South Sudan and GOSS is opening more public universities for a population estimated to be 90% illiterate and live with a dollar or less per day. Other public universities such as John Garang University of Science and Technology and Rumbek University do not have enough lecture halls and students residences – is GOSS not mad or near mad now with some of these foolish decisions/actions taken on daily basis?
Zambia spent decades with just one public university but I think they are doing better than South Sudan in term of improving quality of labor market in their country.
Today, it is reported that GOSS wants to give a capital city design and construction contract to Korean company that does not have money to implement the said projects other than going to market the new contract to generate money for such actions.
Until now there is no South Sudan Housing Corporation, no Institute of Survey/Mapping in South Sudan to do some of those duties of survey, design and building quality housing and we are now going to foreign companies to do everything for us to charge us arm and length profit – with profit being exported to another country to make us perpetually dependent on foreign mercy.
Who told GOSS that South Sudan needs a foreign company to design our cities? Don’t South Sudan engineers know how to design a city road, how far to build a house from a road reserve, how to build a quality house, or how to survey and design an estate?
Fellow countrymen in GOSS, South Sudan people thought you were true liberators and statesmen but South Sudanese are now to no doubt believe that you are just a bunch of thugs who want to loot this nascent country by all mean. GOSS always create this idea and that idea just with the intention to loot the new country’s resources.
Freedom fighters are always true nationalist but what we are seeing with GOSS is a betrayal of innocent people of South Sudan who sacrificed everything to free themselves from oppressive arabs regimes just to fall into the hands of ruthless wolves nicely named as South Sudan freedom generals.
I think Mayardit administration is a burden on South Sudanese other than being a solution to their problems.
There is no sense of natural intelligence in GOSS. South Sudanese are 90 percent illiterate; do they really need 10 public universities in South Sudan and cities designed by foreigners? We need to think on how to give people basic technical skills to build their country other think of opening many public universities and hiring foreign companies that are coming to add nothing we don’t know in this country. GOSS is not helping people of South Sudan at all.
Perpetual mistakes in all sphere of decision making in the country in South Sudan is a sign of complete lost of direction in politics/economic/development initiatives.
Nhomlawda
Dr. Reality
South Korea to assist in the planning of South Sudan’s new capital
If there is wisdom in the government of southern Sudan, the money for building a national capital city should be use for building state capital cities.This will ease taking the towns to the rural communities.
Relocation of the national capital city will be done later please.