By William Garang
King Media, 3 Oct – The Council of Ministries has nodded at a memo permitting President Salva Kiir Mayardit to declare a ‘natural disaster’ in hard-hit flood-affected states in South Sudan.
This came after the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Albino Akol, presented a memo before the Cabinet on Thursday on the flood situation and urged the Council of Ministries to endorse a declaration of a state of emergency in flood-affected states.
The Deputy Minister of Information Jacob Maiju Korok told journalists that according to the Humanitarian docket, an estimated 700,000 people are flood victims, while 198,000 people are displaced across the country.
“The flood has affected the part of South Sudan, affecting humans and animals; so, starting from October 1, the flood has impacted over 772,000 people across 38 counties and Abyei administrative area,” said Korok, “With the population of 198,000 people verified as displaced people,”
He explained that the flood had also destroyed schools, hospitals, and other key infrastructure in the states. He added that the peak of flood is expected at November, this year..
“The government and the partners are joining a responding to the flood in the affected areas, states in the country,” Korok noted, “So, the minister of Humanitarian Affairs requested the council of ministries to recommend to H.E president Salva Kiir the declaration of natural disaster due of flood affected states,”
Those are Jonglei state, Upper Nile state, Unity state, Warrap state, Northern Bhar el Ghazal state, and Abyei, to name just a few. “So, the presentation was unanimously passed and endorsed by the council of ministries,” he asserted.
Korok, who is also the acting government spokesperson, revealed that since the memo was endorsed by the cabinet president, Kiir is expected to declare a state of natural disaster in flood-affected areas.
According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), more than 800,000 people in 38 of South Sudan’s 78 counties, including the Abyei Administrative Area, have been affected by the flooding.
South Sudan is facing unprecedented flooding, with forecasts predicting above-average rainfall, river flows from Uganda, and potentially record-breaking floods.
The joint flood preparedness and response plan, developed by the government, the UN, and other partners, aims to assist 2.4 million people.
It also identified 20 high-risk counties across Unity, Jonglei/Greater Pibor Administrative Area, Lakes, Warrap, Upper Nile, Central Equatoria, and Northern Bahr el Ghazal states as priority areas for intervention.
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