Passengers stranded as Aweil airstrip suspends flights

By Hou Akot Hou

Authorities at Aweil Airstrip have suspended flights due to ongoing renovation to fix potholes on the runway.

The Director for Aweil Airstrip, Ajou Garang Deng on Wednesday urged passengers who plan to go to travel to Juba to be patient until renovations are completed before resumption of flights over the weekend.

 “We are expecting the renovation to finish before the week ends. Some sick passengers need to travel to Juba for further treatment, but the work we are doing is part of life-saving,” he told Juba Echo in Aweil town.

 “As management, we sympathize and do empathize with the sick peoples who are badly looking for treatment in Juba. The governor and minister of roads have instructed us to smoothen the runway,” added Garang.

The State Minister of Roads and Bridges, Achok Akot Akot said the repairs being undertaken by Africa Resource Corporation (ARC) on the 2 Km section of the airstrip are funded by the World Food programme (WFP).

“We closed down the airstrip since January 21, we are almost finishing and hopefully we will hand over the airstrip to the revenue authority. The resources we got from partners include fuel, trucks that transported the sand and water to sprinkle,” said Akot.