Web Design by Chisholm
|
Web Design by Chisholm
|
|
Contents | Chisholm prepared this report on the road construction work he was doing in Sudan to try and educate the US Congress and US people on some of the emergency needs of the Southern Sudanese People. He is trying to convince Congress to backup their rhetoric with action. Sudan and all Africa countries need our help. Rebuilding the Infrastructure Raymond H. Chisholm
Roads and Bridges of Southern Sudan: Where We Stand "More people have been killed in the Sudan Civil War than any war since the Second World War. More than Kosovo, Somalia, Rwanda, Chechnya and Bosnia combined," according to U.S. Congressman Frank Wolf. Sudan, the largest country in Africa, is about the same size as the United States from the East Coast to the Mississippi River. Southern Sudan is home to the majority of the Christians in Sudan. The Christian rebels control most of the South. Most of Western Equatorial Sudan is a fertile, rich area that could feed all of Sudan and export to surrounding countries. Because of the continuing Civil War agricultural production has been at a standstill. Most of the southern population is concentrated around feeding centers operated by the members of OLS (Operation Lifeline Sudan) and other charitable organizations. Without the help of these organizations, hundreds of thousands of people would die of starvation. Frank Wolf, the Representative from Virginia
further stated in the U.S. Congress: Don Payne, the Congressional Representative from New Jersey firmly declared during the same hearings: "Finally, the question of Sudan is starting to become an issue that people in this country and around the world are starting to focus on. We have seen Somalia. We have seen Haiti. We have seen Kosovo. But as these things were going on, Sudanese were still suffering. For the last 40 years, they have been suffering. So finally, I think enough is enough. The time is now for us to act." Most of the food and other aid for the Southern Sudanese people is currently delivered by airdrops. Security, the deplorable roads and bridges make air the primary method to deliver the required quantities of food and other relief. Delivering by air is expensive. In the first half of 1999 the World Food Programme (WFP) targeted 13,700 tons of food to be delivered each month. If it all has to go by air that is a transportation cost of $10,000,000 per month. Most of the WFP food had to be transported by air. It cost about $721 to deliver one ton of food 650 kilometers or about 400 miles by air. The same food could be delivered for about $470 by road, a saving of over $250 per ton. The World Food Programme is working toward this goal. Other groups that are major suppliers of food and other aid to Sudan are CARE, World Vision, Lutheran World Foundation (LWF), Medecins Sans Frontieres, Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and Norwegian Peoples Aid (NPA). If all of these organizations could merely send 10,000 tons or relief aid per month by road, instead of by air, it would save over $2.5 million dollars each month or $30 million dollars each year. Thirty million dollars a year will fix a lot of roads in Sudan. Catherine Bertini, the Executive Director of the World Food Programme says, "…saving lives in emergencies is only part of WFP’s mission. Reconstruction and rehabilitation after emergencies is critically important as well. WFP’s many development projects around the world also strive to make people self-reliant." The World Food Programme has a dual mandate, besides feeding the hungry they have a mandate to promote long-term development projects aimed at "breaking the deeply rooted hunger-poverty cycle." The World Food Programme is striving to help the Sudanese break the deeply rooted hunger-poverty cycle by committing resources to help rebuild the transportation infrastructure in South Sudan. Refugees cannot eat or benefit from the wasted $250 per ton spent on air transport for food. The millions of dollars saved by utilizing newly repaired roads could more adequately be used rebuilding the infrastructure that would help the Sudanese people escape the poverty-starvation cycle that has plagued their nation for almost 20 years. This money could be spent transferring the people back to their homes, buying seeds, and feeding them on their own farms while they start growing crops again. Once the crops are harvested, the improved roads will also allow the movement of surplus food crops from the Southern areas to the areas most affected by food shortages. Roads are the veins and arteries of a country; without roads a country will never progress beyond a primitive state. The roads in Southern Sudan are in an
appalling state. Maintenance has been non-existent. During the rainy seasons the
lush jungle In late 1998 World Food Programme engineers started to plan how to improve the main transportation corridors in both Eastern and Western Equatoria. They focused on an 830-kilometer section of road in Western Equatoria and a 180-kilometer section in Eastern Equatoria. The 830-kilometer road runs from the Uganda border to Thiet, the gateway to the critical Bahr el Ghazal region in Western Equatoria. The Eastern Equatoria sections travels from the main Operation Lifeline Sudan (OLS) base at Lokichoggio, Kenya, to Chukudum. It will also open the important area beyond Chukudum. Twelve contractors were pre-qualified and bid on the road construction In April of 1999 the two winning contractors started repairing these two main corridors. Unfortunately, the total of the two bids was about $10 million US dollars. Only about $3.3 million was available. Just 7% of this $3.3 million was supplied by the United States. Italy supplied the lion’s share with a 41% contribution of $1,340,483. Norway donated 10%, Australia 10%, Ireland, 9%, Luxembourg 8%, Sweden 6%, Japan 5%, and Canada 4%. The WFP Engineers have tried to ration this money to repair some of the worst areas. Ray Chisholm, the American Civil Engineer from Virginia, in charge of the WFP road construction in Western Sudan, explained the money shortage to the Southern Sudanese leaders. He said it is like trying to feed 500 people with one goat. You cannot let the first 20 people eat until they are full, the other 480 people will be left starving. Since the money available has to be spread very thinly many sections of road have to be skipped and others not repaired thoroughly. More money for these roads is urgently and critically needed to start the Sudanese on the path to self-sufficiency. According to the Congressional Record, the United States donated $260 million to Sudan in fiscal year 1998. A large share of this money was used for transportation of the food. However, the United States contribution to the two WFP road contracts represented less than 0.1%, one tenth of a percent of the U.S. overall 1998 contribution to Sudan. If the U.S. had allocated more of this $260 million to the repair of the roads, America could have provided more supplies and food with the same amount of money. More money needs to be spent on infrastructure and rebuilding commerce in the country if the people are ever to leave the refugee camps and become self-sufficient again. Roads are the foundation for the reconstruction of Sudanese society. On June 16, 1999, the United States Congress made a solemn commitment to the World and the Sudanese Christians when they approved House Congressional Resolution 75. Congress resolved to give more aid and support to the persecuted Christians in South Sudan. Items (A), (C) and (D) of the resolution call on United States President Bill Clinton to:
There is no better way to help the long-term development of the South Sudanese than to repair and maintain their roads and bridges. A commitment of $20 million per year would take less than 8% of the 1998 U.S. contribution to Sudan. This money would allow the roads to reopen and give the South Sudanese Christians the opportunity to rebuild their society and to move towards self-reliance. The savings made on transportation costs would recapture this money. A country cannot move toward self-reliance without commerce; roads are essential to the development of commerce. In Blacksburg, Virginia, a town of only 35,000 people, two new intersections are proposed for Highway 460. The $15 million cost of these two intersections in a small town in America could make a crucial difference for the country of Sudan. The same amount of money used on these two intersections could repair almost 600 miles of South Sudan roads. The overwhelming majority of Congressmen who supported H. Con. Res. 75 must honor their commitments and help the Sudanese. The Cost/Benefit ratio of funding the roads in South Sudan could be among the highest of any project ever supported by Congress. Twenty million dollars spent per year on roadwork and maintenance would return savings of forty million dollars in transportation costs. For each one dollar spent on roadworks, there would be a return of two dollars in one year if critical food supplies were trucked via roads rather than flown. Additionally, all aspects of commercial life and the standard of living, would be dramatically improved with a comprehensive all-weather road network. The money for the two current World Food Programme contracts will run out in about 5 months. Seven million dollars is urgently needed so that these projects can be completed. This funding would also allow the repair of the critical Mundri Bridge shown here. Work on this bridge should be started this coming January during the dry season. If construction does not start then, the bridge repairs will have to wait until January of 2002 because the river floods during the rest of the year. This funding would also allow the startup of Sudanese operated road maintenance teams. Over 100 boreholes or wells will have to be drilled to support the road teams. The wells could be started with this money. Seven million dollars is less than the cost of an Interstate intersection in the U.S. Seven million would help provide long-term help for millions of people in Sudan, East Africa. The World Food Programme is soliciting co-sponsors to help repairs on some of the main road corridors that funnel the aid and food supplies from the Kenya Port of Mombasa to Lokichoggio, Kenya and Kampala, Uganda. Kampala and Lokichoggio are important staging points for sending aid to Sudan. These roads are critical to landlocked South Sudan, now and they will be even more important if a peace treaty is signed. Good roads will help make South Sudan self-reliant and not dependent on supplies coming though the north, which is controlled by the National Islamic Front Government. WFP is currently looking for help from donors to repair a 60-kilometer stretch of road between Lodwar and Lokichoggio in Kenya that has been badly damaged by trucks hauling supplies for Sudan to the airstrip at Lokichoggio. About $4 million dollars is needed for this section. Work will start as soon as the commitments for funding are made and a contract is signed. Many of the road corridors and bridges in South Sudan were mined during the past fifteen years of fighting. An important part of the construction and the rehabilitation of the country is the clearing of these mines. In July of 1999, WFP Civil Engineer Raymond Chisholm, initiated discussions with the Ugandan Government and the Sudanese rebels over a section of heavily mined road in Uganda at the Sudan-Uganda border. This short road section was so badly eroded that it was quickly becoming impassible. Several hundred children walked through this minefield everyday on their way to school. Mr. Chisholm negotiated an agreement whereby the South Sudan based NGO, OSIL (Operation Save Innocent Lives) has de-mined the section and the Ugandan Government has started repairs. The World Food Programme is donating money to the Ugandan road maintenance crew in Arua to help facilitate this work. WFP has been a longtime supporter of OSIL. They work closely with the road contractors to insure their safety before the road repair and construction is started. OSIL needs continuous support to keep removing mines and make the transportation corridors safe. The Southern Sudanese people are a people worth saving. They are a proud, intelligent, wonderful people. They are every bit as valuable as the people are of East Timor or Kosovo. If the world community is spending $500 million to rebuild East Timor and over $1 billion to rebuild Kosovo, surely they can commit $20-25 million a year to rebuild roads in Southern Christian Sudan. This will help break the deep rooted poverty-hunger cycle. If you would like to help restore peace and self-reliance to the largest country in Africa, please contact your Congressional Representative or Senator today. Tell him Sudan is important. Tell him/her to honor the verbal promises made in Congress. Contact President Bill Clinton. Leave all the politicians with these thoughts:
We need to build the roads and turn the swords and guns into plowshares. Both USAID and the World Food Programme are ready to administer more road reconstruction aid to Sudan. Congress and President Clinton must appropriate money for this aid to restore transportation and to ultimately restore peace in Sudan. The U.S. Government will not take action unless the American People tell them to act. The Sudanese people need your help, please do your part today by exercising your right as an American to tell your politicians what to do. As Representative Don Payne from New Jersey said, "The time is now for us to act." About the Author Raymond H. Chisholm is solely responsible for the contents and funding of this report. He has done this work with his own camera, computer, and printer and has personally paid for the printing. Raymond H. Chisholm is a Professional Engineer from Blacksburg, Virginia in the United States. He has lived and worked in East Africa for the last four years. He attended VA Tech and graduated from the University of Virginia with a B.Sc. in Civil Engineering. He has served on the National Board of Directors for the National Society of Professional Engineers. He has been the Governor of the Professional Engineers in Construction of Virginia. He has served in a management capacity for over one billion dollars worth of construction projects all over the world and in the U.S. He is a army veteran and served in the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers in Vietnam. Mr. Chisholm has worked as an engineering consultant for the World Food Programme in South Sudan. He was the only American working for the World Food Programme living full time in South Sudan for most of 1999. He may be contacted by e-mail at chisholm@engineer.com or raymond@chisholm.org. To support any World Food Programme operation, visit their website: www.wfp.org/support/support.htm or send your contribution to: US Friends of the World Food Programme, P.O. Box 11856, Washington, DC 20008. If you want your contribution to go to Sudan Roads, mark it clearly "Sudan Roads." |
Send mail to Webmaster@chisholm.org with
questions or comments about this web site.
|
