Ongoing floods have submerged the primary market in Pibor town within the Greater Pibor Administrative Area (GPAA), disrupting daily business operations and displacing traders and vendors.
Philip Ngachallen, the head of the GPAA Chamber of Commerce, told Radio Tamazuj on Monday that around a hundred businesspeople are impacted, and they are now conducting transactions on higher ground outside the market.
“These floods began last week due to heavy rains and river overflow, submerging 48 shops and displacing 50 women vendors,” Ngachallen explained. “This is exacerbating the already severe issue of a lack of goods in Pibor.”
He added, “With floods and insecurity, our traders are unable to transport their cattle to Juba for sale, and no goods are entering our area. Our situation is critical.”
Abraham Kelang, the Information Minister of GPAA, highlighted that the floodwaters are still rising, further aggravating the already critical humanitarian situation.
“The floods are intense. A section of Pibor market, housing over 50 shops, is now completely submerged. Traders are left to operate in the open. Additionally, residential areas along the river are displaced. The humanitarian situation is dire,” explained Kelang.
Floods have worsened over the past years as South Sudan is suffering increasingly from the consequences of climate change. Floods are reportedly affecting every year between 750,000 and more than one million people, forcing half of them to leave their homeland to higher grounds.