By Bida Elly David
The minister of humanitarian Affairs and disaster management has said that government will be using water transport as the major means to evacuate returnees.
Albino Akol explained that the use of water transport was the simplest mode of carriage for big numbers compared to planes.
In a statement on the presidential Facebook page, the minister said that using the River Nile will be the easiest way to transport large number of returnees and Refugees from Sudan.
He did not clarify why the government will not use planes as the fastest means of transporting civilians to the camps as promised from the beginning.
Akol underscored that the government will evacuate people in Paloch airport immediately in order to decongest the place, as directed by the President through a proposed action plan.
Meanwhile, Ministry of foreign affairs is still quiet on what to do to the population risks trekking from Sudan towards Renk due to financial constraints.
However, the question of risk management as bigger population will be evacuated through the Nile with boats is one of the areas that has never been clarified by Albino before president Kiir.
Although some of the people fleeing the conflict in Sudan have arrived in neighboring South Sudan, majority reportedly trekked on foot to safety.
Speaking to No.1 Citizen daily newspaper, Susan Sadia one of the returnees from Khartoum said that the humanitarian situation remains alarming as majority battle means of survival on the eve of greater turn-up of the population.
Suzan said that she walked for 12 hours from where she was staying in Khartoum to get transport to the border town of Renk.
She added that those who could not manage to walk that distance were stuck not sure when they will be able to reach South Sudan.
“Life wasn’t easy for me to arrive. I grieved. But thank God, one of my friends assisted to pay my transport to reach South Sudan carefully.” Susan said
Meanwhile according to recent OCHA estimates over 30,300 returnees and refugees have entered South Sudan, demanding much humanitarian response as new arrivals continue to trickle in.