Please find attached the emergency road repair & mine clearance Progress Report for July 2006. Below is an excerpt giving you the highlights.
Contact person & project manager: Thomas.Thompson@wfp.org

Highlights and Road Conditions

The WFP road repair Special Operation has received a huge boost in funding from the new Government of South Sudan in July. A $30 million dollar contribution to the special operation is both a huge vote of confidence in the rehabilitation and a timely donation that will allow us to take advantage of the next dry season to full advantage. Funding from this donation will allow the completion of the road from Bor to Malakal as well as Tonj-Wau and the completion of the Rumbek to Shambe road. It will also allow work to continue on the Bor dikes, protecting the Bor-Malakal road.

The ongoing phase III has a funding shortfall of US$ 35,784,823. Phase III aims for the creation of all weather roads by expanding on the repairs already done in phase II putting more funds into structures and upgrading to all weather standards. Phase II roads were largely spot repairs to large sections of road not enabling them to be all weather. The lack of funding during the last dry season means that critical trunk roads have already begun to fail during this 2006 wet season.

By the end of July critical funding from the MDTF/World Bank was still outstanding, however the donation was announced in early August. This funding will be utilized for roads maintenance and a very important link on the Juba to Mundri road reducing the distance from Kenya to Rumbek and north as well as badly needed maintenance programmes and the beginning of the Wau to Abyei road.

Lack of funding during the last dry season meant that regular road maintenance and bridge upgrades were not completed on time. The combination of a lack of maintenance and unrestricted axle loads have left many roads in very bad condition and have closed some roads while we undertook emergency repairs. We expect that these conditions will prevail until the end of the rains and the maintenance programmes that are in place now will have a full impact.

It is recommended that no more than 4MT per axle be loaded during the wet season until December. It is also recommended that no heavy vehicles move for a period of 6 hours after any significant rainfall.

Capacity Building

An asset management and strategic planning workshop was conducted for the senior staff from the Ministry of Transport and Roads, and State ministers from 27 June to 28 June 2006 in Juba. It was attended by 10 State Infrastructure Ministers and their Director Generals. Important conclusions of the Workshop were as follows:

• Preparation of a strategic plan and an asset management plan for Southern Sudan's infrastructure is paramount to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of asset life-cycles;
• Improved communication and liaison amongst the States and between the States and GOSS is imperative to ensure the future success of asset management in South Sudan; and
• There is a strong need to bring the county governments into the planning process so that all the relevant parties are integrated.

The State Ministers developed a prioritized plan for the rehabilitation of roads and bridges for consideration and coordination by agencies and donors. At a forthcoming co-ordination meeting this plan will be discussed.