Unity: Kuerlonga residents complain as govt. demolishes 500 homes

By Bonifacio Taban Kuich

April 24, 2013 (BENTIU) – Residents of Kuerlonga village in Unity state have complained that they were given insufficient notice before 498 houses were demolished over the last week.

Unity state’s ministry of physical infrastructure has denied this, however, telling Sudan Tribune that civilians of the village near the state capital Bentiu were informed of the planned land clearance last year.

The demolitions have left men, women and children living under trees.

Displaced residents accuse the government of destroying their homes in order to sell their land. Some say they have lived in the area for almost four years and believed that they were the owners of land.

One of those forced from the area, Regina Nyapuri Liah, a 36-year-old mother of six, sad the demolition of their home was made more challenging as the rainy season was approaching.

“When our houses were demolished, we never received any information neither warning, we were surprise in the morning when forces of combination of army and police forces came surrounded our village”, she said.

“Every one passing nearby roads, were surprise when a forceful demolition took place. Many of us bear beating, we were not against our government decision but we were after our right as citizens of this country, they damp us here whether we have water or not it is up to us”, added Liah.

Liah says although the government does provide services people voices should stll be listened to.

“We will never abandon our government although they act wrongly against us, we have nowhere to go and we will only keep in heart that our government refused us. And what we know there is no government without civilians, if they do that way we will still stay here. For those who have money to build should share with fellow citizens until rainy season over or otherwise we expect response from the government”.

Luk Chol Dau, the Director General at Ministry of Physical Infrastructure Urban Development and Natural Resources, claims that he informed residents before the demolitions took place last week.

“As a government we took a decision to remove them by force so that is why they quarrel […] but we gave them a time last year”, said Dau in an interview with Sudan Tribune on Wednesday.

Chol said that following the announcement the demolition last year new plots were allocated to all those affected.

“We gave them the land last year. They pay the money and they took all the documents some of them they receive their land the same money that they pay last year. We didn’t ask any money from any person except those people who did not pay last year”, said Dau.

Nyakong Kueth Jany a 50-year-old-woman blamed the government for forcing them to move to a dusty area that had not been properly surveyed making living there difficult.

“I have three houses in Kuerlonga before demolition took place. My government has thrown me in the bush. I have no children, all my children die, the matter to make it worse I’m disable person of whom I could not move out to fetch water in long distance or neither to collect fire wood. I’m blaming the government seriously of making a wrongly decision and secondly to God too”.

The demolitions in Kuerlonga at Bentiu town have affected nearly 1,000 of people, many of whom are too vulnerable to build new houses before the imminent rainy season.

(ST)