Prices soar in Jonglei due to bad state of Juba-Bor road

November 8, 2013 (BOR) – The public in Bor the capital of Jonglei state have expressed alarm over skyrocketing prices in local markets which have been blamed on the poor roads connecting the town to South Sudan’s capital Juba and other areas of the country.

Businessmen who hire trucks to transport goods from Uganda via Juba to Bor say the roads have forced them to increase the prices to cover up the losses incurred due to the delays in their journey.

David Okello, who is part of a group of shop-owners selling a variety of food stuffs told Sudan Tribune that it can take up to four weeks to travel the 200km from Juba to Bor due to bad roads.

“I spent one month between Juba and Bor. My truck had a lot of problems on the way at Mangala and Gemeza, some goods were spoiled in the process of offloading the truck when stacked, and uploading them again after removing it”, he explained at Bor Pakuau checkpoint.

“Reaching here was not easy. Taxes are high, when we add all these losses on the prices, people complain”.

Hiring a truckto carry goods to Jonglei can cost close to 10,000 South Sudanese pounds according to Abdalla Yusuf, a Somali who runs a wholesale business in Bor.

“I just brought my goods recently to maintain my customers, I will not make any profit”, said Yusuf.

In Marol market on Tuesday, bottled beer, sugar and beans are among the goods that were in scarce supply. Shopkeepers are never sure when they will be resupplied due to the awful state of the unmetalled roads which are badly affected by the heavy rains common in South Sudan for much of the year.

Geu Ajak, a wholesaler specialising beer, has been forced to close his shop due to lack of goods reaching Bor.

In Bor the retail price of a bottle of beer is between 8 to 12 SSP in the few places were is still available. The cost used to be around 6 SSP.

A 25 kg bag of sugar that used to cost 110 SSP is now sold at 160 SSP in the shops, said Ayen Atem, a young women who was shopping in Bor market on Tuesday.

Taxation officers at the Pakuau checkpoint said they have received little money in taxes on trucks entering Bor since August due a decrease in incoming traffice.

“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 tax officer in Bor.

(ST)