Traffic Lights are Unnecessary Evil in Juba City
By Malith Alier, Juba
Malith who lives and works in Juba since 2009 is not sure whether to laugh or cry as a gesture to receiving the good news of the advent of traffic lights or stop light as known in USA.
In late 2007, Malith arrived in Juba for the first time from a western country where technological things like stop light is part and parcel of everyday life of a motorist. The rate of motor accidents is a major hazard that kills nearly as many people as cancer. Both are major killers of people in the developed world.
To reduce the risk of accidents occurring and perhaps lessen the work the traffic police, the city councils continuously device new rules and regulations to control the ever increasing motor vehicles. This is mostly the case in build-up areas like CBD or Central Business District. The CBD is controlled not only by concentration of traffic lights but also by speed limits of as low as 50 kph. The speed limit in school zones are labelled with 40 kph at certain times of the day. The maximum limit on a free way is a hundred (100) kph. What is very important about the speed limits is the adherence by the motorists. None adherence on the other hand attracts penalties in form of pecuniary or cancellation of one’s licence.
The Juba before you was like a ghost town under revival in 2007. The population was rapidly growing exponentially by the world standard. The displaced by war and bunches of foreigners arrived by the hour to see for themselves the capital of the semi-autonomous region of the Sudan. The immediate returned of the displaced signalled eagerness to rebuild their lives in the motherland. No doubt about that in every ones’ mind.
Juba is described as a city of sunshine. The weather is hot throughout the year. The summer temperature is particularly unbearable. Juba is situated on the banks of river Nile. The eastern and western parts of joined by viaduct built around sixties or seventies. It is the lifeline to the western side and up particularly western Equatoria and Bhar el Ghazel states.
South Sudan is a nation of grumblers say observers in the government. The educated and people of interest mostly in towns lead this pack. This may be the opposite of the unsuspecting rural folks who rely on second information most of the time.
Kiir Mayar is the overall leader of the country. They also know about the SPLA and the SPLM. These are the only things known by rustics who are in the majority. They have no hint or whisk about the mammoth corruption. Nothing about dysfunctional street lights often knock down by drunken over speeding motorists. Nothing about durra saga or the 75 wanted officials. This is the reality that will also live with us in the towns for the foreseeable future.
At the speed the country is moving by erecting street traffic lights, we may be sure there is more to come. Our neighbouring countries of Uganda and Kenya are still struggling with two or three stop lights in terms of managing them. Kenya and Uganda have at least stable power supply unlike south Sudan. Uganda supply Kenya with excess power from Jinja. This means that there are numerous questions than we have answers for the project of the city stop lights. The questions may be framed such as: Where is the source of power to run the lights? Does Juba city which is poorly planned need such lights? Will the motorists who are not in a position to interpret the different light colours like red, green and yellow obey the erected stop lights? Have the traffic department made the traffic control centre? Will the traffic control centre manage the many lights erected at a go? Will the stop lights have surveillance cameras to take photos of violators? Will the armed forces who are always flouting traffic rules be turned around?
It is mesmerising how the asphalted kilometres of roads are getting depleted by clogged water in many parts of Juba City. However, no one seems to bother about that. ABMC South Sudan and Thailand, the company that constructed the road stretches is nowhere to undo this damage that is not only an eyesore but also a risk to road users, motor vehicles and pedestrians alike. The roads in the city constructed by the poor engineers won’t serve the motorists for long.
The writer passes the roundabout of University of Juba and saw some interesting observations about the traffic lights. The roundabout is at the intersection of University road and Unity road. The old roundabout is still intact. Nobody made an attempt to modify it to a full functional cross section fully controlled by traffic light. The traffic lights are placed at the invisible corners such that the approaching motorists can’t see until they are within 1 metre of the lights. The lights have four bulbs indicators but only two were functional. The two are just arrows pointing in different directions. Both are on the yellow background. They are powered by flat solar panels measuring about 1 metre by half a metre. This is indeed a modification of the normal traffic lights seen around the globe.
Many people have come to accept the fact that new projects come with new possibilities. This is a trend that may be difficult to circumvent. Many institutions including the City Council would like to make an attempt at it. The traffic lights are a temporary measure which no one will make an effort to maintain just likes the disappearing road sections commandeered by flood water.
The drivers for the Lologo route are still on strike because of bad roads. They parked their vans on the 13th this month until the authorities who are executing new projects come to their senses. The authorities include the Juba City Council (JCC) which busy with new projects and the administration of Rajaf Payam full of self serving officials.
No level of government got policies and priorities right since CPA. Even if they are got right, there is a ghost called corruption in over projects in form of kickbacks. A company cannot get a contract until it does speak the language we speak. This is the dead end of doing business the way it is. The traffic lights under construction will be abandoned like the roads that nobody maintains to date.
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