Jonglei government funds dyke rehabilitation in Twic East

June 18, 2015(BOR) – The government of South Sudan’s Jonglei state has released SSP 210,000 for dyke rehabilitation in Twic East county.

“We received half of the money, which wanted because we want to pay for a lot of things. We want to pay the operators, fuel and lubricants,” Twic East commissioner, Dau Akoi told Sudan Tribune.

Floods have become a problem to the Twic East population as the majority of the villages lie in lowlands susceptible to floods.

The commissioner on Thursday said repair of the primary phase started near Dong in Ajoung payam, covering a distance of 20km, with major focus on the broken portions.

“It has been a tedious job to repair to repair the dyke every year before the rainy season, and meeting the cost is not easy,” he said.

“What we do every before the start of the rainy season, we make sure that these dykes have been rehabilitated. Without doing that, this community is going to be flooded. After this rehabilitation, we are hopeful that the dyke will not be broken”, added Akoi.

He said the preparatory stage for long-term dyke construction had commenced, urging the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and South Sudan ministry of water and irrigation to contribute on development of a permanent dyke in Twic East.

A permanently-built dike, he said, would boost activities of population in Twic East.

(ST)