Danish NGO compensates Bor villagers for loss of houses in mine clearance
February 19, 2015 (BOR) – A Danish aid group has paid at least $13,200 in compensation after 15 houses were accidently destroyed by a fire during a mine clearing exercise in Makol Cuei village in Jonglei state’s Bor.
Jack Michael Campbell, technical advisor for Dan Church Aid, told Sudan Tribune in Bor that one of the unexploded ordinances had bounced out of the burning pit and landed outside, causing a 3km bush fire to spread to the nearby village, destroying 15 tukuls (traditional houses).
Campbell said the aim of the exercise had been to collect and destroy ammunitions and small arms to make the area safer for surrounding villagers.
He said aid workers had gone to the village following the incident to talk to the community and discuss compensation for the owners.
An amount of 2,790 per tukul was subsequently agreed after consultations with local chiefs and the community.
“The community sat and calculated the amount of money they needed to build one tukul and they gave us this amount of money to pay per house,” said Campbell.
He said Dan Church Aid regretted the incident and the unintentional destruction of houses.
Jok Alier, Bor county coordinator for the South Sudan Relief and Rehabilitation Commission (SSRRC), who acted as a witness to the payment to house owners, said the compensation was essentially a cost-sharing arrangement between the owners and the Dan Church Aid.
“The compensation that we give was not a full compensation. It was a kind of cost sharing. [The] community took responsibility to do some part of work, providing labour to reconstruct their houses, while Dan Church Aid took take care of the most expensive part of the work,” said Alier.
(ST)