South Sudan's English Daily Newspaper
"We Dare where others fear"
By Benjamin Takpiny
The cabinet on Thursday endorsed the declaration of national disaster in flood affected areas
Dr. Jacob Maiju Korok, the Deputy Minister of Information, Communication, Technology and Postal services said that the decision was taken on the request of Albino Akol Atak, the Minister for Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management during the cabinet meeting chaired by President Salva Kiir in Juba.
“The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, Honorable Albino Akol Atak, requested the Council of Ministers to recommend to His Excellency the President Salva Kiir Mayardit a declaration of a national disaster due to floods in the affected states like Jonglei, Upper Nile, Unity, Warrap, Northern Bahr el Ghazal, and Abyei,”
Thousands of people in Jonglei, Upper Nile, Unity, Warrap, and Northern Bha El Ghazal and Abyei Administrative Area have been displaced due to months of heavy flooding since July this year.
“We call it declaration of national disaster, due to the floods in affected areas. So we mean that actually by declaring a national disaster we can actually mobilize some resources from the donors to support the government to respond to the flood affected populations,” said Korok during a media briefing.
He said that’s a matter of time until the natural disaster is declared, adding that floods have not only affected people but also livestock in the affected areas.
He said that The floods have affected over 772,000 people across 38 counties, with a population of 198,000 people verified as displaced people.
In addition, schools, hospitals, and other important infrastructure in the affected states have been submerged by water, cutting off critical services to the population.
Korok said that the government and humanitarian partners are responding to the floods in the affected areas, adding that the peak of the floods is expected to be in November 2024.
