Lakes State council of ministers approve cooperation agreement

October 23, 2012 (RUMBEK) – The Governor of Lakes State, Chol Tong Mayay, and his cabinet said on Tuesday that they support the recent cooperation agreements reached by Sudan and South Sudan.

Lakes State’s minister of information and communication, Charles Badiri Mayen, shortly after briefing said the agreements had been passed by the cabinet without objection.
 
“We talk and talk and review this Cooperation Agreement between the Republic of South Sudan and Republic of Sudan – we passed it as it is – nothing was objected by ministers under governor Chol Tong Mayay” said Mayen.
 
Acknowledging the reaction the agreements have received from some, Mayen said that “it is not hundred percent to the expectation of South Sudanese, but is a strategy toward solving other issues”.

Protestors from other areas, namely Abyei, Unity State and Northern Bahr el Ghazal State, took to the streets on 15 October after agreements were signed to establish a demilitarised zone, which some residents perceived as an encroachment upon their land. Juba insists it is a temporary measure.
 
Governor Chol and other governors were briefed on the signings by South Sudan President, Salva Kiir earlier this week.
 
Mayen said that “the state Cabinet endorsed the Cooperation Agreement after receiving a briefing from the state Governor on how they were briefed by the country’s president. Though it is not 100 percent to the expectations of South Sudanese, but is a strategy toward solving other issues”.

(ST)