The Government of Eastern Equatoria and a Malaysian Construction Company on Thursday signed a memorandum of understanding for the construction of two thousand kilometres of feeder roads in the state.
Director General of ministry of Roads and Transport Norman Charles Gideon signed on behalf of the government while Seow Cheng Soon, Managing Director of PROBASE, signed for the company, Radio Emmanuel reported.He said the agreement was based on mutual understanding between the governments of South Sudan and Malaysia.
Engineer Norman said the construction of the two thousand kilometres of roads is the first of its kind in Eastern Equatoria.
The roads will be tarmac by a modern technology and PROBASE will fund the work on a loan Eastern Equatoria government will pay back in ten years time.
Axim Bank of Malaysia is lending over 397 million US dollars to Eastern Equatoria for the construction of feeder roads and bridges.
Eastern Equatoria Roads and Transport Minister Charles Lokonoi said 1,000 job vacancies equivalent to 80 percent work force will be for South Sudan nationals during the road construction project.
He added that 20 percent will be for a technical workforce coming from Malaysia.
The roads and bridges project takes four years to complete.
The construction company gives a five-year maintenance guarantee, before handing the roads over to the state government.