South Korean peacekeepers from the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) have begun construction of a road in eastern South Sudan «to build public confidence and enhance reconciliation» amid escalating ethnic violence in the Pibor administrative area, where thousands of people have been forced to flee their homes in recent weeks.
The 115-kilometer road will connect Pibor with neighboring Labrab, as a prelude to a series of works to resurface the connections between remote localities in the east of the country in an operation which, the UN expects, will be completed next April.
These upgraded roads will be essential during the rainy seasons in South Sudan, as the current routes become impracticable due to the fall of water.
For the commander of the South Korean engineering mission, Colonel Jong Sil Park, such infrastructure work has been conceived for the purpose of peace.
«Good roads encourage trade, bring members of different communities closer together and speed up the delivery of much-needed humanitarian aid,» he said in a statement released Friday by the United Nations.
All this comes at a time when the UN has denounced the forced displacement of at least 30,000 residents of Pibor in recent months due to clashes late last year between members of the Murle and Nuer communities, which left nearly 60 people dead.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
