Citizens of Aweil Centre County in Northern Bahr al Ghazal State complained of acute water shortages in the area and urged authorities to resolve the issue by establishing more water sources.

In December last year, the communities urged the State government and partners to immediately establish new water points.

The county authorities said there are about 60 boreholes in the area with some already under dilapidated conditions.

This, the residents say cannot serve the county population of over 200,000 people.

Abuk al-Zubair, a resident of Aweil Center County, narrated to Radio Tamazuj how the water insufficiency has affected them.

“We have water crises because people from the other counties used to migrate here, cattle keepers, farmers, Fallata and Rizeigat are all with us and the water shortage became a big issue,” Al-Zubair said.

Kiir Madut, another resident, claimed people there now drink water from ponds which are shared with animals and often contaminated.

“People drink waters from ponds but the cattle have spoiled the waters and all people are now drinking stagnant waters,” Madut said.

For his part, the Commissioner of Aweil Center County, Peter Natale, confirmed the high demand for clean water in his county.

He added that some people travel for about a four-hour distance to access water. “There is a high need for water. There are people who travel for a distance of four hours to get water,” he said.

“We have seven affected payams like Umuoro Payam which doesn’t have any single hand pump. People there drink water from a river and the river is contaminated. Previously, we talked to them via local radios to boil water before drinking,” he added.

According to agencies, more than 50 percent of the South Sudan population lacks proper access to clean water resources.