Rehabilitation of critical supply route to maintain humanitarian access in Bentiu, Unity State. ltpgtltspan style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif color: black" lang="EN-GB"gtltbrgt
ltspan lang="EN-GB"gtThe traditional access to Bentiu, Unity State has been through Mayom-Tumor to Kilo 30-Bentiu. lt/spangtWith Bentiu for the last 3 years being completely surrounded by water, access for this road through investments in dikes and road compaction will enable truck deliveries for UNMISS, humanitarians and commercial traders into Bentiu. The only alternative form of transportation is use of the river involving trans-shipment at Manga which is up to 5 times more expensive than road and limits the size of cargo that can be moved (no bulk fuel). Road is the major access way for humanitarians, UNMISS and commercial traders in an increasingly short dry season to support the Bentiu IDP population. 

ltbrgtlt/spangtlt/pgtltpgtltspan style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif color: black" lang="EN-GB"gtltbrgtlt/spangtlt/pgtltpgtltspan style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif color: black" lang="EN-GB"gtAn alternative road into
Bentiu from Mayom is being proposed by WFP for rehabilitation under this allocation. This proposed alternative road runs
north of the traditional access route and is situated on a higher plain than
the current main route and hence is less prone to devastating floods than the
lower altitude main route traditionally used. This road was brought to
the attention of WFP and UNMISS by state authorities early in 2023. The entire length of the alternative
road is 82 km and commences at 1.7km offset from the road to Sudan at
42 Km from the junction of Kilo 30-Mayom road which has previously been
upgraded. Access to Mayom from the alternative route is conservatively for 10
months of the year at a minimum. The state authorities have cleared the bush/removed
trees on 55km of the new road and graded/flattened these sections. The soil is
black-cotton however with predicted rainfalls and drying out periods, even with
this substrate base plus the rehabilitation of the swamp section, WFP expects that
this road will be passable up to September conservatively whereas the current
Mayom-Kilo30 road is foreseen to become impassable in June. The existing road to Bentiu (Mayom – Kilo 30 road) is low in a flood plain, meaning it will suffer more from any flood water, the complete reliance on dikes makes it vulnerable to sabotage (which occurred in 2023) and longer term will require yearly investments in embankments and road maintenance.

lt/spangtlt/pgtltpgtltspan style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif color: black" lang="EN-GB"gtltbrgtlt/spangtlt/pgtltpgtltspan style="color: black font-family: Arial, sans-serif"gtThis project
proposal will address the swamp section covering rehabilitation of 27km and 10 water crossing points with a depth between 0.6-1.5m, in addition to the inclusion of dikes, culverts
and embankment construction which will facilitate the movement of critical
humanitarian commodities and commercial trade, critical to keep markets
functioning, in and out of Unity State.  Note
that full rehabilitation of the 55km at a projected cost of an additional USD 7.7
million to make it all-weather access up to 10 months of the year is outside
the budget of this project.lt/spangtltbrgtlt/pgt





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