Sudan’s peace partners agree to empower North-South border technical committee

By James Gatdet Dak

July 15, 2010 (JUBA) — The two partners to the 2005 peace deal in Sudan have resolved to establish a four-person subcommittee to assist the North-South border demarcation committee in reaching an agreement on the contentious areas of proposed demarcations.

A joint North-South border demarcation committee comprised of Southern Sudan and Northern Sudan delegates was set up three years ago to identify and demarcate the boundaries after receiving on the proposed borders from the Presidency in Khartoum.

The committee however could not agree on a number of areas in the border states. The disputed areas constitute about 20% of the borders between the two regions. Most of the areas in question contain oil reserves and agricultural lands, particularly in Upper Nile, Unity, Warrap and Northern Bahr El Ghazal states.

In a statement he issued to the press upon his arrival from Khartoum, the Vice President of the semi-autonomous region, Riek Machar, said the South would have two officials, including Government of National Unity’s (GoNU) minister of Cabinet Affairs, Luka Byong, to try to narrow the gap between the technical committees.

The Southern side in the border demarcation committee is headed by Engineer Riek Dogoal. The technical body was supposed to present its proposed demarcations of the borders since last year.

However, the disagreement between the Northern and Southern technical committees on the remaining 20% of the borders has delayed the report, prompting a political intervention at a sub-committee level before the Presidency could decide.

The referendum on independence of the people of Southern Sudan is less than six months away. This could mean the exercise could potentially be conducted before the completion of the borders demarcation if disagreements persist pushing the matter to the post-referendum arrangements.

(ST)