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Sudan, Uganda sign MoU to develop transport infrastructure

Posted: 28 Aug 2008, 10:32
by John Ashworth
Sudan, Uganda sign MoU to develop infrastructure
Daily Monitor
Business - August 28, 2008
Joseph Olanyo
Kampala

Plans for the development of the proposed Gulu-Nimule-Juba-Wau railway line have been finalised following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Uganda and Sudan.

The MOU for the joint development of the proposed line was signed on August 26, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs by the Governments of Uganda and Sudan.

The Gulu-Nimule-Juba-Wau (920 km) route is considered shorter than the earlier proposed route of Pakwach-Arua-Oraba-Yei-Juba, which is 1,028 kilometers. The memorandum that also covered other modes of transport was witnessed by a delegation of officials from the Government of South Sudan (GOSS).

The Minister of Work Mr John Nasasira signed on behalf of the government of Uganda, while Brig. General Philip Thon Leek Deng, the Minister of Transport, Roads and Bridges, signed on behalf of Sudan. The Uganda-Sudan meeting, which reportedly went deep into the night before the MOU was signed, was in the context of Decision Number five of the 5th Session of the Sudan-Uganda Joint Ministerial Commission held in March 2007 in Khartoum.

The meeting noted the need to have joint project proposals on the roads and railway lines connecting the two countries for purpose of soliciting funding. The meeting also established a Joint Ministerial Transport Commission (JMTC) to implement the decisions of the MoU and to jointly provide the development of transport infrastructure and services between the two countries

A statement from Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) said the bilateral meeting further discussed the status of the ongoing and planned projects on key roads connecting Sudan and Uganda. The roads are: Arua-Koboko-Oraba-Kaya-Yei-Juba Gulu-Atiak-Nimule-Juba-Malakal Moroto-Kotido-Kaabong-New Site-Kapoeta Kitgum-Ikotos-Torit. It was agreed to speed up the process of upgrading these roads to bitumen.

The statement said the Government has secured a credit from the World Bank to undertake a feasibility study and detailed design of the Vurra-Arua-Koboko-Oraba road, which is expected to commence in September 2008. It did not say how much the credit is.

However, it says upgrading to bitumen is expected to commence in March 2010. “During this financial year the road will undergo routine maintenance and full regravelling will commence in December 2008. Reconstruction of 14 bridges along the road is also expected to commence in December 2008.

Tenders for construction are due at the end of August,” said the statement from UNRA’s Corporate Communications Manager, Mr Dan Alinange. UNRA says the procurement for the feasibility study and detailed design for Gulu-Atiak-Nimule road (104km) is currently at technical evaluation stage and will be completed by September 2009.

The cost for construction of this road is currently estimated at $75.4million. Moroto-Kotido-Kaabong-New Site-Kapoeta road (265km) is scheduled to receive full regravelling commencing January 2009. Subject to availability of funds, upgrading works are expected to commence after June 2010. The road is estimated to cost $174million.

The Kitgum-Musingo (Border) 80km link lies in Uganda while the Musingo-Tsertenya-Ikotos-Torit (280km) is in Sudan. The feasibility study and detailed design of the entire link from Rwenkunye-Apac-Lira-Kitgum-Tsertenya is scheduled to commence in February 2009 and be completed in December 2009. Upgrading works estimated at US$150m are scheduled to commence in June 2010.

Re: Sudan, Uganda sign MoU to develop transport infrastructure

Posted: 09 Sep 2008, 16:02
by John Ashworth
Sudan-Uganda Railway in Offing

East African Business Week (Kampala)
6 September 2008
Kampala

A railway line linking Uganda to Sudan is in the offing.

This follows the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the
joint development of the proposed Gulu-Nimule-Juba-Wau railway line on
August 26 at Uganda's foreign affairs ministry in the capital, Kampala.

The existing railway from Mombasa, Kenya stops at Pakwach/Gulu in
northern Uganda. The Pakwach/Gulu-Juba-Wau railway line is the missing
link, which also has potential to connect to the Cairo-Wau and the
proposed Dakar-Port Sudan railway lines. This would provide a transport
link between Cairo and Mombasa.

Once the project is complete, trade barriers between Uganda and Sudan
will be removed to help people do business.

The MoU signed by Uganda's roads and transport minister, Eng. John
Nasasira and his Sudan counterpart, Brig. Gen. Philip Thon Leek Deng,
according to a statement issued by the Uganda National Roads Authority
(UNRA) also covered other modes of transport.

Measuring 920 kilometres, the Gulu-Nimule-Juba-Wau route is considerably
shorter by 108 kilometres than the earlier proposed route of
Pakwach-Arua-Oraba-Yei-Juba that measures 1,028 kilometers.

"The Uganda-Sudan meeting took place in the context of Decision Number
five (5) of the 5th Session of the Sudan-Uganda Joint Ministerial
Commission held in March 2007 in Khartoum which noted the need to have
joint project proposal on the roads and railway lines connecting the two
countries for purpose of soliciting funding," Mr. Dan Alinange, UNRA's
corporate communications manager said in the press statement.

The meeting also established a Joint Ministerial Transport Commission
(JMTC) to implement the decisions of the MoU and to generally jointly
provide the development of transport infrastructure and services between
the two countries.

Alinange said officials discussed the status of ongoing or planned
projects on key roads connecting Sudan and Uganda. They include
Arua-Koboko-Oraba-Kaya-Yei-Juba, Gulu-Atiak-Nimule-Juba-Malakal,
Moroto-Kotido-Kaabong-New Site-Kapoeta and Kitgum-Ikotos-Torit roads.
It was agreed to speed up the process of upgrading these roads to
bitumen.

Uganda has secured a credit from the World Bank to undertake a
feasibility study and design of the Vurra-Arua-Koboko-Oraba road which
is expected to commence in September 2008. Upgrading to bitumen is
expected to start in March 2010.

During this financial year the road will undergo routine maintenance,
full regravelling and reconstruction of 14 bridges starting December
this year.

Tenders for construction were due at the end of August 2008.
The procurement for the feasibility study and detailed design for
Gulu-Atiak-Nimule road (104kilometre) is currently at technical
evaluation stage and will be completed by September 2009.

Upgrading to bitumen is expected to commence in March 2010. The cost for
construction of this road is currently estimated at US$75.4m.

Moroto-Kotido-Kaabong-New Site-Kapoeta road (265kilometre) is scheduled
to receive full regravelling commencing January 2009. Subject to
availability of funds, upgrading works will commence after June 2010.

The road is estimated to cost $174m.

The Kitgum-Musingo (border) 80kilometre link lies in Uganda while the
Musingo-Tsertenya-Ikotos-Torit 280kilometre is in Sudan. The feasibility
study and design of the entire link from
Rwenkunye-Apac-Lira-Kitgum-Tsertenya is scheduled to commence in
February 2009 and be completed in December 2009.

Upgrading works estimated at $150m are scheduled to commence in June
2010.

The Uganda-Southern Sudan railway project is an immediate follow-up to
another proposed line linking Uganda with Dar-e-Salaam Port in Tanzania.

Re: Sudan, Uganda sign MoU to develop transport infrastructure

Posted: 09 Sep 2008, 16:55
by Kevin Wilson-Smith
Bets? Or am I being overly cynical?

Re: Sudan, Uganda sign MoU to develop transport infrastructure

Posted: 09 Sep 2008, 17:07
by John Ashworth
It's by no means certain. But southern Sudanese authorities are pretty keen to reduce their dependence on northern Sudan, so a railway is a natural step. I'll be in Juba quite a bit in the next couple of months and I'll see if I can find out how serious they are about it.

I suppose Gulu is a natural choice if it's a hundred-odd kilometres shorter than Pakwach, although it would have been nice to see the old Pakwach branch rehabilitated and expanded. I suspect the line from Gulu to Juba will be a bigger priority than Juba-Wau.