By Gladys Fred Kole
Unity State Governor, Joseph Monytuil has stressed the need for urgent humanitarian assistance and support for flood-affected people in the area.
According to the governor’s office, Monytuil on Tuesday appealed to President Salva Kiir regarding the situation of the flood-stricken communities in Unity State.
Tuesday’s meeting was not the first between the governor and President Salva Kiir to discuss pressing issues affecting Unity State.
The governor generally briefs President Kiir on security concerns, the status of floods, displacement, returnees, refugees, road connectivity, and efforts to raise the living standards of the people.
During their meeting, Monytuil requested the President’s continuous support towards the settlement and reintegration of the returnees into their communities.
Last month, the President directed Governor Joseph Manytuil and his counterparts, Rin Tueny Mabor of Lakes State, Manhiem Bol Malek of Warrap State, and Chief Administrators of Abyei and Ruweng Administrative Areas, to stabilize the security situations of their respective states by ending cattle raiding and violence.
The meeting also put more emphasis on the disarmament of the civil population to end communal conflict and rampant insecurity orchestrated by cattle theft between neighboring states of Warrap, Unity, and Lakes.
According to a UNICEF statement issued in June this year, Water remains a major challenge for the people of flood-affected Unity State. It noted that 7,000 people have insufficient access to clean water, while the daily influx of returnees is on the rise.
However, a statement issued by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) yesterday cited that “this year’s rains have not yet arrived,” but seasonal forecasts and climate change projections point to difficult times ahead.
In May, the UN predicted that recent heavy rains in the Lake Victoria basin,
coupled with the El Nino event (the warming of sea surface temperature) expected later this year, parts of South Sudan will experience severe flooding in the coming months.
Flooding has been a misery in South Sudan for many years, with the worst in the young nation’s history witnessed over the past four years, exacerbated by climate change.
During the rainy season, floodwaters swept away entire villages, destroyed crops, drowned cattle, and severely damaged infrastructure, while forcing hundreds of thousands of people from their homes.
Last year, a larger than ever portion of South Sudan was covered in water, and in some places, the floods have still not receded.
In Bentiu, Unity State, the camp for displaced people is effectively an island protected by dykes, while some villages in Old Fangak, Jonglei State, are still underwater.