Shake, rattle and roll…
Anyone who has been to Juba will know exactly what I am talking about — even some of the people who would read this that have been to Africa will understand. But, to those of you that have never been outside of US, I’m afraid you’ll never really get how bad this is. I’m thinking that maybe the boys in NASA that have been on the moon might get it, but then again, the Lunar Rover looked like it had some pretty great suspension. Almost all dirt roads (which cover over 90% of Juba) have craters the size of small planets in them. The amount of dodging (when possible) and
Some industrious children have even made a bit of a business out of taking a shovel and filling in some of the smaller holes with dirt (typically, we are talking 10 year old children here — the probably don’t see the bigger holes as they could stand in them) and then ask passing drivers for a little money.
Typical Road in Juba
While there are contracts for 60 km of roads to be paved in Juba, only 6 km have actually been completed — and there doesn’t look like there is any further movement anywhere to keep working on the other 54 km. I understand the Government of Southern Sudan awarded these civil works projects many years ago. But, somehow, while the money has been expended, it doesn’t seem like there are many new roads. I wonder what that could mean….? Well, I think we all know, but it’s just not politic to say that the government officials and their friends are just taking money while the rest of Juba stays in medieval times.
[Side Note: As I am writing this, I was enjoying a hot cocoa until a fly that was buzzing around my head just decided to take a swim in some cocoa. I've never seen a fly to that before. It's like he missed landing on the rim of the cup and just fell into the drink. Now, I don't know if I will drink the rest or not - I probably will, since that was my last hot cocao packet. *sigh*]
If there is just ONE thing (and there are indeed many things) that makes life miserable in Juba, I think it’s the situation with the roads. My daily commute to the office would take about 10 minutes instead of the 45 minutes that is required to traverse the crappy conditions; travel time between just about anywhere would be substantially reduced. We also wouldn’t need these huge Toyota Landcruisers that really aren’t that much fun to be in and take a heck of a lot of petrol to operated.
One day, the roads in Juba will be usable — but judging by the Government’s lack of interest, it’ll probably be after I am long dead and gone. If at all.
