75,000 S. Sudanese flood victims in need of assistance

December 15, 2013 (JUBA) – At least 75,000 flood victims in South Sudan are urgently in need of humanitarian assistance, an official said.

“As of today, only 270 people are being assisted and many people are still not yet reached”, said Clement Taban Dominic, undersecretary in the gender and humanitarian affairs ministry.

The ministry was, however, boosted when the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) donated to it $180,000 worth of items.

The donation, Taban said, would help government reach out to about 400 people, many of whom lost hope.

“This donation will reach the right people. Our technical team has already decided this assistance to go the people of Gogorial East [Warrap state]”, he stressed.
Items donated included, 1600 blankets, 1600 jerry cans, 200 tents, 200 mosquito nets, and 96,000 aqua tabs.

The Japanese envoy to South Sudan said the items were in response to the goodwill his country received when it was hit by floods in 2011.

“Today we reciprocating courtesy which we received two years ago”, said Takeshi Akamatsu.

On his part, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) chief of mission said the relief items were timely and would reach those affected as soon as possible.

“It becomes difficult to get emergency relief when we are now competing with Syria and the Arab world”, David Derthick said.

In August, persistent floods affected over 220,000 people, with Unity state being the worst-hit region. Also affected were Upper Nile, Jonglei, Warrap, Northern Bahr el Ghazal and Central Equatoria states.

(ST)