Juba, South Sudan.
July 17, 2022 — South Sudan’s Unity State citizens have downplayed President Kiir’s recent suspension of dredging and embarked on manual dredging exercise this morning.
This comes less than a week after President Kiir ordered the suspension of all activities related to dredging until a credible, scientific and professional environmental social assessment is conducted.
Speaking to Nyamilepedia this morning one of Unity State locals, who identified himself as Gatluak Peter, said they started to “dredge the rivers by hands” because they have realized the serious politicization of the project.
” Yes, we are now making our own river clearance because it becomes clear that politicians took it to different levels without considering our lives and livelihoods in Unity State”, Gatluak Peter told Nyamilepedia from Unity State capital Bentiu.
When asked whether or not the state government has given them green light to defy President’s order he said they went for their own risk and no one could stop them since they are in good numbers.
“. State leadership did not say anything so far but we are more even if they said anything no one would understand”, he added.
Unity State has been hit by flood since 2019 and making it the most affected state across the country followed by Jonglei State.
Last week the government sponsored consultations kicked off and many national and international experts made presentations but no one came up with short term plans to mitigate the flood.
