By Manas James
The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) has handed over a new police post to the community of Duk County, Jonglei State to foster security in the restive area.
The new facility constructed under UNMISS’s Quick Impact project to the tune of about $ 50, 000 was handed over during a ceremony in Gadiang town on Tuesday.
Speaking to No. 1 Citizen Newspaper, Major-General Elia Costa Faustino, the state police commissioner, said the new police post will help them deliver on their mandate of protecting civilians and their properties.
“Gadiang is a strategic town on a junction of eight roads including ones that run to Akobo and Pibor. So, this will help us foster security,” he said.
“This post has four offices to serve the post commander, chief investigator, officers, and the one for statement taking. It is also equipped with 2 cells for males and females plus an ammunition store and a rest room.”
The police commissioner lauded UNMISS for the handover calling it a relief and that it will help pacify the troubled Jonglei.
On his part, Jacob Akech Dengdit, the state deputy governor, said the police station is a leverage to the government’s plan of establishing Gadiang as a peace centre for the communities of Jonglei State and the Greater Pibor Administrative Area (GPAA).
Meanwhile, Geetha Pious, the UNMISS head of field office in Jonglei State, said the new police post will support ongoing initiatives to restore peaceful coexistence among the rival communities of Jonglei State and the GPAA, reiterating UNMISS’s commitment to peace in the troubled part of the country.
“This cost 49 980 US dollars to construct a police post and support the implementation of the peace resolutions from the Jonglei-GPAA conferences to deploy security forces here,” she said.