S. Sudan to move capital despite oil shutdown - minister
Fri Aug 31, 2012 2:56pm GMT
* Move will dismay donors who see other priorities
* Poor country seen paying $10 billion for new city
* Oil shutdown erased 98 percent of state revenues
By Mading Ngor
JUBA, Aug 31 (Reuters) - South Sudan will push ahead with a $10 billion plan
to build a new capital despite losing nearly all its revenue when it shut
oil production this year, a official said, a move that will dismay donors
who see other priorities in the poor nation.
Western diplomats had in the past said they hoped to persuade the
war-ravaged country to drop the project and focus its limited resources on
pulling its population out of poverty.
South Sudan seceded from Sudan last year under a 2005 peace deal that ended
decades of civil war. It is seen as one of the world's least developed
countries.
The African nation's cabinet decided last year to relocate the seat of
government from the scruffy boomtown Juba on the banks of the White Nile
further north to Ramciel, in a swampy region in the central Lakes state.
The new government said it needed more space and wanted to build a modern
city from scratch.
The project would continue and be paid for in phases, Minister for Housing
and Physical Infrastructure Jema Nunu Kumba told Reuters in an interview.
The government was open to a public-private partnership for a project
estimated to cost $10 billion over 20 years, she added. "We will work
together with the private sector ... All the infrastructure like the roads,
the sewage, water - this is government."
One Juba-based diplomat, who asked not to be named, criticised the
announcement. "Such a decision at this time of austerity will raise lots of
concern ... Resources are scarce," he said.
No one was immediately available for comment from international donors and
aid agencies based in Juba who have already poured millions of dollars into
development projects in South Sudan.
Kumba said the government had paid $2.5 million to a South Korean company to
carry out a six-month feasibility study on the new capital.
The study started in April but results were delayed because of the rainy
season, she said.
The war with Sudan devastated South Sudan, leaving it with almost no
industry or infrastructure outside the oil sector. Many South Sudanese hoped
independence would usher in a new era of prosperity.
Instead, the landlocked country remained stuck in a dispute with Khartoum
over how much it should pay to export crude through the north, pushing it to
shut down its oil output in January - the source of 98 percent of its state
revenues.
The two sides reached an interim deal this month that would restore exports
but have not signed a final agreement.
PRIORITIES
While some in South Sudan laud the idea of the new capital, others complain
it is a misplaced priority in a country struggling to provide basic services
and which faces rampant corruption, high youth unemployment and multiple
armed rebellions.
Kumba said the government was determined to carry on with the proposal
despite the obstacles.
"For us to function, to meet the demands of the services that are needed, we
need to expand offices. We need to expand infrastructure and so on," she
said.
"We're not saying, if it's costing $10 billion, it will be implemented all
at a go. It will be done in phases. We will only start with what we need at
the moment."
The national government has also indicated it wants to avoid administrative
confrontations with a state government that shares the current capital.
Kumba said a request for new land was turned down by the state government
and that replanning Juba for expansion would involve relocating people from
slum areas.
"The only option was to go to a complete new place where the government can
be able to design the city as it wants, and also to avoid confrontation with
local people and the stakeholders."
(Editing by Alexander Dziadosz and Andrew Heavens)
Sudan army clashes with rebels ahead of border talks
Fri Aug 31, 2012 3:42pm GMT
* Rebels claim to kill four enemy troops
* Sudan armed forces say repulsed attack
KHARTOUM Aug 31 (Reuters) - Rebels clashed with Sudanese government forces
in the oil-producing border state of South Kordofan, both sides said on
Friday, just days before Sudan and South Sudan are set to resume talks on
securing their disputed and volatile frontier.
South Sudan split away from Sudan last year under a 2005 peace deal that
ended decades of civil war, but the two have remained at odds over a range
of issues and conflict has continued to plague their borderlands.
One of the most contentious issues has been Khartoum's accusation that Juba
is supporting the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement North (SPLM-N) in
South Kordofan and other insurgents. South Sudan denies the charge.
Fighters of the SPLM-N said in a statement they killed four enemy troops and
captured equipment and ammunition during an attack on an army camp in the
Rashad area in the state's northeast on Wednesday.
Sudan's armed force spokesman Al-Sawarmi Khalid confirmed the two sides had
clashed in the state, but said the fighting broke out when rebels tried to
attack a region called al-Murib.
"Their attempt failed," he said by phone.
Sudan and South Sudan are expected to resume talks over border security in
Addis Ababa next week, after they were delayed because of the funeral for
Ethiopia's former Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.
The two countries are expected to come under pressure from mediators to
reach a partial deal on border security so that they can resume oil exports
vital to both economies.
Landlocked South Sudan shut down its oil output in January in a row with
Khartoum over how much it should pay to export through Sudan.
The two sides reached an interim agreement on fees this month but Sudan says
it wants a security deal before crude flows resume.
South Sudan seceded after voting overwhelmingly for independence in a 2011
referendum. Some 2 million people died in the decades-long war between north
and south Sudan. (Reporting by Alexander Dziadosz and Khalid Abdelaziz;
Editing by Michael Roddy)
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Received on Fri Aug 31 2012 - 17:54:59 EDT
