Ferry boats donated last year for carrying passengers across the River Kiir in Abyei are lying idle after communities placed in charge of the boats failed to maintain them.

The boats were donated last year by the local organization ACAD, according to a report by Abyei Today. The organization had suggested that each local community should set up a committee to maintain its boat.

It also said passengers should pay a fare, which could cover the cost of repairs.

Instead, nobody has been collecting fares from the passengers, according to a villager in Nyin Riith, Nyanlou Maguith. He said there was therefore no cash collected to repair the holes in the village boat’s hull, which had to be patched up with mud.

Ajak Atem said residents often woke up to find the boat had sunk overnight and that pulling it out was exhausting and annoying.

In nearby Awaal, the village boat lies upturned on the ground by the river. The head teacher of Awaal School, Chol Deng, said that pupils from across the river had been unable to sit exams last year because the boat was not operating. 

A villager, Bil Kon, said there were no welding facilities available locally, and the boat was too heavy to take to a welder in Agok. The chief in Awaal, Mayol Deng, said the boat was vital to local people, but no‐one knew how to repair it.

Meanwhile, the executive director for the Agok administration unit, Arop Ayuel, said the Abyei Administration might be able to release money for repairs in the next few months, but until then many of the region’s ferry boats are expected to remain out of action.