Jonglei to improve health facilities in Bor – minister

December 10, 2011 (BOR) – The Jonglei state minister of health, Redenita Ayen Arop, said Saturday her state is facing difficulties in transporting patients to hospital on time for treatment. Ayen confirmed that poor road infrastructure has contributed to insecurity, adding that the health ministry is running out of drugs.

She appealed to all Jonglei state inhabitants to stay united and to develop their respective areas instead of allowing tribalism to cause conflict ethnic groups.

Arop said “I encourage our people that to be united and to forget about tribalism and just to think about development of our new country and counties – and I urge our people in the counties that we are doing for their interest and for their best”.

She said her ministry is sending various health personnel to Egypt for training, noting that as the largest state in South Sudan Jonglei needed more people to be trained in various fields to handle state affairs.

“I am the largest state and I need the help that we lack structures. We lack quality people. We lack drug[s]” she said.

In the wake of an attack on Akot village last week, Bor hospital told Sudan Tribune that they were running out of medicine due to the number of injured people.

On Tuesday a local chief told Sudan Tribune that at least 40 people died and 30 were injured following the attack. The United Nations Mission in South Sudan has said it will deploy peacekeepers to the area.

Twelve children are missing, scores of huts have been raised to the ground, 1,300 cattle, 400 goats and all stores of grains were either looted or burnt according to Philip Bol Deng, a local chief in Akot.

On Wednesday Jonglei’s information minister became the latest official to allege the attackers were Murle tribesmen from Pibor.

Since South Sudan’s independence raids and counter raids have continued in Jonglei state. Over 1,000 lives have been lost, thousands more displaced and large numbers of cattle looted this year between June and August in counter attacks between Murle and Lou Nuer tribesmen in Pibor and Uror counties respectively.

The minister said her attempts to improve health facilities across the 11 counties of Jonglei state were being hampered by the security situation. As well as fighting between rebel groups the army is also fighting rebellions against the government.

She called upon citizens to stop internal conflict in the state so that health care could be provided to all people in Jonglei state as promised in the 2010 election campaign.

The state government of Jonglei says using poor roads and infrastructure are the main reason they are struggling to address the issue of insecurity, blaming the central government in Juba for not doing enough to urgently improve roads.

(ST)