[2007-09-28]  Market prices shoot up in Juba
MARKET prices shoot up in Juba
MARKET prices have skyrocketed by as much as 100% in Juba as bad roads cut off supplies from Uganda, lowering the standard of living in the southern Sudan garrison town.

“The cost of goods has gone up and the standard of living has gone down,” Finella Llams, a Ugandan running a youth non-governmental organisation, said on Monday.

“I have cut drastically on my consumption.” In the cheapest market, a single tomato costs about sh900, up from sh450, while the price of a 500ml bottle of mineral water has doubled to sh1,800.
The Coca-Cola soda from Uganda, whose demand is high is up to sh4,000 from sh2,500. The road from Gulu to Juba, the shortest-single day journey to Juba, has no tarmac. When it rains, it breaks down.

“It’s only our side of the road that is bad,” Habib Miggadde, the head of Chancery at the Ugandan Consulate said two weeks ago. “We are trying to fix it.”
John Nasasira, the transport minister and his South Sudan counterpart then, Rebecca Nyandeng, reached an agreement to repair the roads in 2006.

But this road, said to bring in more export earnings than any other export route, has no single stretch of tarmac along its nearly 300km length from Gulu to Nimule.
The road’s breakdown has also pushed up transport fares.
A bus ticket now costs sh100,000, up from sh50,000 on account of the longer journey, riddled with constant breakdowns and higher fuel costs.

“And then you have to sleep on the way,” said James Okanya, a consultant here.
After they reach Gulu, vehicles now detour west up to Arua and Moyo in the northwest, before heading back east up to Atiak, a seven-hour journey, where they spend the night.

Without the detour to the northwest of the country, the Gulu to Atiak journey is ordinarily a two-hour ride.
Some commuters without luggage, and without personal vehicles, are opting to get on motorbikes in Gulu.
A motorbike-ride from Gulu to Atiak takes about three hours, and costs sh30,000.
From Atiak, the commuters hop onto a taxi to the border, which charges sh30,000 for a two-hour journey.
Another taxi takes the commuters from the Sudan border to Juba at sh30,000.
Worsening the situation is the breakdown of the road from Yei to Juba.

A bridge broke down more than two weeks ago, and traders have to carry goods from one side of the bridge and load them onto waiting trucks on the other side.
The breakdown has opened the eyes of the authorities on the need for alternative supply sources.

According to a newspaper here, the deputy speaker of the Legislative Assembly, John Tombe, told parliament that over 500 vehicles, loaded with goods, were stranded 528 miles away from Juba with little hope of making it to the South Sudan capital town, Juba.

“Yei road is now completely impassable; goods are not flowing in,” Tombe said. The MPs are asking what the state ministers are doing to get goods to Juba even if the roads are blocked and to get alternative supply sources that are cheaper than the goods from Uganda.
Goods from Uganda are still expensive even when the roads are not this bad, because the absence of tarmac breaks down the vehicles, leading to high maintenance expenses.

The breakdown has also affected the delivery of services in South Sudan.
State ministers who went on mission to Yei, 40 kilometres from Uganda’s north-western border entry point into Sudan, were left stranded mid this month, and had to request an helicopter, or they would stay in Yei until the roads cleared.
The unavailability of goods from Uganda has pushed up the demand for goods from Khartoum.

A 300ml bottle of Coca-Cola soda is up from $1 to $1.50.
Other traders are looking elsewhere for similar goods.
Red Bull, a popular energy drink in Juba has been replaced on the shelves with Vigor, imported from Dubai and by RX, made in the US, but imported from Eritrea.
Fearing a loss of clients for good, some big hotels have had to warn revellers in advance.

Home & Away, one of Juba’s latest, and most popular restaurant, bar, and business centre, did just that when it increased prices of its beverages from sh6,300 per bottle or can of soda or beer to sh9,000-- it has a flat rate for all beverages.
“This is due to the current status of the roads, which affected the supply of beverages and increased prices in the whole of Juba and even higher, in the whole of South Sudan,” the company said in a statement.

“However, the prices will go down once the supply routes improve. While we strive to serve you better, the management regrets any inconveniences caused.” Small entities are also feeling the brunt of high prices.

“Morale is generally low. Activities are not running, we are out of stationery, we can’t move staff, and you can’t push staff when there is no money,” Llams said.



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