Involving the Northern State in the management of crossings is a necessity, His Excellency Al-Burhan ✍️ Dr. Al-Baqir Abdul Qayyum
The deep and rooted social ties between the two brotherly peoples of Sudan and Egypt were the first motive and the most powerful driving force to consolidate this harmony between them. It was necessary to develop these relations and expand the two types of social and economic ties that were born. of the intimacy of this affiliation, and these relations have remained the greatest concerns between the two peoples, and for this reason we find that they have strongly imposed themselves, and have influenced, in one way or another, by forcing all successive governments in the two countries to follow these relations, to respect their historical ties and to strive to make them responsible and adapt to them as a fait accompli, regardless of all the problems that, in turn, could disturb the peace of this relationship and arouse skepticism, and we therefore find that the two countries have sought to maintain the stability of these relations between the two sides by improving the opportunities for joint cooperation between them on the basis of the well-established historical and cultural social ties between them, and from this point of view the idea of establishing crossing points between the two countries has arisen to implement these meanings on the ground.
The two countries culminated these established and solid relations with the opening of the Arqin and Ashkit crossings, which helped facilitate the flow of communications and trade between the two countries. The opening of these two crossings reflects the commitment of the two countries to strengthen their economic and social relations. This achievement is considered a challenge and an important step towards developing cooperation and trade between them.
Egypt's commitment to taking care of the crossing points on its side has remained constant, while the Sudanese state has not paid enough attention to taking care of the other side at the Ashkit and Arqin crossing points. This disparity of interest has led to the creation of an inappropriate working environment on the Sudanese side, which could harm the progress of the work and the inability to facilitate trade and communication between the two countries.
It is hard to imagine that the Arqin and Ashkit crossings on the Sudanese side suffer from a lack of the most basic services such as water, electricity and utilities, especially given their proximity to the Nile, which provides a nearby water source, and the lack of these basic services that people need reflects major infrastructure challenges and negatively affects the comfort of workers and users of the crossings, which imposes the utmost need to pay attention to the development of these services to ensure the improvement of the working environment and facilitate movement and trade.
The management of the Arqin and Ashkit crossings began under the supervision of the Sovereignty Council as soon as they were opened, and then their management was transferred to the Ministry of Transportation, but unfortunately, the two crossings did not receive any attention, exactly the opposite happened, that is, they were completely neglected from the time they were received until this moment, with the activities of the Ministry of Transportation being limited to collecting taxes without regard to the provision of any type of services or maintenance of the infrastructure, this neglect negatively affected the progress of the work and the deterioration of the level of services provided.
Praise be to God, the management of the passages has returned to the Sovereign Council, and we hope that this change will contribute to improving a good working environment that matches the importance of this great name. The services provided there must be strengthened and the services rendered. infrastructure maintained to ensure their efficient management and which brings comfort to those who take care of them.
The Northern State must be involved in the management of these two crossings because its involvement will have a positive and significant impact, considering the presence of these two crossings within its geographical boundaries, because the State is sufficiently aware of the local needs and challenges of its geographical boundaries, and if it gets involved in the management of these crossings, it will certainly provide better services, as well as more efficient maintenance, which helps to improve the working environment so as to facilitate the flow of trade across the two crossings.
The Northern State has asserted its rights to manage the two crossings since their opening until now, without fully or effectively achieving its claims, as it has received only scraps of resources and recognition. Despite this, the State bears the consequences of many problems. these crossings, including We note that it provided services valued at over £120 billion during the war period. In addition, the State is currently responsible for the processing of people deported from Egypt, which adds greatly to its burden. need to reconsider the distribution of responsibilities and resources to better meet the needs of the State and strengthen its capacity to manage the crossings effectively.
Our message to the central government is the need not to exceed the involvement of the Northern State in the management of the two crossings. Greater involvement of the Northern State will address the challenges and contribute to significantly improving their management, given that the State will demonstrate greater interest in managing and protecting them than any other party, which will reflect positively on the effectiveness and efficiency of the operations carried out there.
And God is behind the intention
