Indian peacekeepers in South Sudan rehabilitated a long-neglected runway at the Malakal airport, providing essential infrastructure support to the area. They were lauded for helping improve essential infrastructure going above and beyond their call of duty.
The Indian peacekeepers serving the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) repaired the Malakal airport that had been left inoperable and damaged. The airport laden with significantly-sized craters, the runway had not been used since 2013, when the crisis broke out in Sudan.
With its road infrastructure in a predominantly poor state, South Sudan relies heavily on air transport. Malakal, some 600 kilometres north of Juba and inaccessible by road, is no exception.
Malakal airport manager David Garang Mangok applauded the sustained relationship with the peacekeeping mission, which has contributed greatly to the maintenance of infrastructure of the aviation sector.
Last year the Indian peacekeeping engineers based in Malakal rehabilitated 205 kilometres of a major service road to Melut, improving business and humanitarian services between the two cities.
