Sudan agrees to construct roads linking Abyei to major cities
October 17, 2014 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese government has agreed to build a network of paved roads to link the disputed area of Abyei to the rest of the country.
Nimir underscored that Youssef pledged to accommodate the cost of the road in the 2015 budget.
Nimir was appointed last September as the Misseriya lobbied Khartoum to relieve the former Sudanese AJOC co chairman al-Khair al-Faheed who was criticised for his inaction.
Khartoum and Juba failed to agree on who can participate in a referendum to determine the future of the border area which is inhabited by the Ngok Dinka of South Sudan and Misseriya nomads of Sudan.
The Ngok Dina run in October 2013 a unilateral vote but the two countries, the African Union and the international community refused to recognise its result.
Meanwhile, Nimir met with the state minister of electricity, Mohamed al-Hassan al-Hadari to discuss water harvest projects in Abyei, pointing that work in water harvest will begin on the first of November and finishes by the end of May 2015.
Nimir told the government-sponsored Sudan Media Center (SMC) website on Friday that water harvest projects in Abyei area were approved under presidential directives.
The term of water harvesting refers to the storage of rainwater during the autumn season in order to use during the dry season. The government built dams and reservoirs in different areas in the greater Kordofan to cover the need of the population in the arid areas.
On Tuesday, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) extended the mandate of its peacekeeping force in Abyei (UNISFA) until February 2015, demanding the two Sudans immediately resume the work of the AJOC.
It also urged the two countries to “urgently commence” the establishment of the Abyei Area Administration and Council in order to form an Abyei police service to be tasked with the mandate to take over policing functions in the area, including the protection of oil infrastructure.
(ST)