Residents of the Block 10 suburb in the Jonglei State capital, Bor, are calling on the government to relocate the cemetery outside the town, citing poor hygiene due to contamination emanating from shallow graves.
Speaking to Radio Tamazuj on Friday, several residents said the 250,000 square meter graveyard has been filled up since 2019 and that families are now burying their dead by the roadside posing health risks.
“As we speak, the cemetery is filled up. People bury dead bodies by the main roadside while the cemetery itself has been turned into a dumping site for refuse and dead animals. We, the people living around are not comfortable with the bad smell and contaminated water emanating from there,” Daniel Deng Reec, the area’s chief said.
The community leader warned of serious health risks as the rainy season starts because they rely on underground water for domestic use.
Another resident, Malueth Makol urged the government to intervene by shutting down the cemetery and opening a new one outside the town before the situation worsens.
David Garang Goc of the Jonglei Civil Society Network said thousands of lives could be at health risk if the government fails to intervene, adding that they have engaged the state government on the matter since 2019 without intervention.
For his part, David Garang, the Bor municipality public health director, said plans are underway to relocate the cemetery somewhere outside the town in the coming months.