South Sudan’s Minister of Electricity and Dams, Dhieu Mathok Diing has said lack of qualified staff could lead to the failure by the ministry to implement its projects.
He said most of their employees lack engineering experience.
"The ministry is facing a huge shortage of engineers and technicians. Many engineers left the ministry and joined oil companies because of their low salaries,” Mathok told reporters in Juba last week.
He further said only 28 percent of the ministry’s staff have engineering experience while the rest are in departments and cannot undertake engineering and technical activities on electricity.
"The situation is very bad. Most engineers left the ministry and joined oil companies, because they are getting huge money there,” Mathok said.
Meanwhile, the minister said a plan has been submitted to the National Ministry of Public Service to recruit engineers and technicians.
The official expressed fears that development projects due to be launched soon could face failure because of the lack of engineers.
Electricity in South Sudan has been a major challenge since the country’s independence eight years ago, with residents, businesses, and government offices relying on costly and unreliable isolated self-power generation.