River movements from Bor to Guolyar in Awerial County are currently limited due to the shallow waters in the River Nile. Many boats on the way get stuck, sources said.
Speaking to Radio Tamazuj, Akur Awel one of the women travelers in a boat which got stuck on Wednesday, said they got stuck while trying to pass through an inlet to Makol swamp from the main river. She said the inlet was not as deep as they expected, resulting in stoppage of the engine.
“We came here at around 2 o’clock but now it is late hours since but we are not out yet, we have tried our best but the mud in this little water is too much so I don’t know if we will be out, I pray that the boat gets out because our business to Guolyar will fail,” Awel said, adding that the government needs to deepen the inlet to Makol swamp.
Another male traveller who declined to be named said the boats union is not thinking about such difficulty on the way but they just collect money from every boat travelling to Guolyar. He said he does not know what the office does with the money it collects and called on authorities to intervene.
James Majur, the director in the office of boats union, rejected this criticism saying that the union has many expenses including payment of its staff. “Those people who ask us of our work, they don’t know why we collect the money, we pay staff and other things,” he said.