Thousands of forces that have assembled at Aswa cantonment site in Torit State are facing challenges of food and clean drinking water, senior commanders said.
Speaking to Radio Tamazuj on Thursday, the SPLA-IO commander at Aswa cantonment site, Brig. Gen. George Okeny Lama said soldiers are at risk of contracting water-borne diseases since they largely depend on untreated water from the Aswa River.
“Food for the cantonment site arrived in Juba almost a week ago, but it has not been dispatched to the cantonment site. There is no food and clean water, although we have the Aswa River, it is heavily polluted and it is infecting our forces with water-borne diseases,” he said.
Okeny further said registration and screening of forces is ongoing at the cantonment site to ensure the required number of troops is attained.
“At the moment, Aswa cantonment site has large attendance of the SPLA-IO every day. Our forces have continued to report either individually or in groups,” Okeny said.
“We have, at the moment, only 2,000 forces because of logistical challenges,” he added.
The commander said opposition fighters are committed to the implementation of the peace agreement to end the conflict.
On his part, the area team leader for the Joint Military Ceasefire Committee (JMCC), Brig. Gen. Cornelius Abele confirmed the situation at the site.
Abele, however, said the general commander for JMCC is expected to come to the cantonment site with food soon.
“Actually, the problem here is that people are crying because of food, there is no food. We are waiting for the JMCC commander, Major General John Malud to come with food and help those people. They are really suffering because there are a lot of challenges. There is no water since there is no borehole at the site,” he said.
Abele revealed that the South Sudan Opposition Alliance (SSOA) forces would report to the cantonment site as soon as food is delivered.
According to the JMCC, the three cantonment sites of Aswa, Irube and Loyoro in Eastern Equatoria will have 10,500 soldiers.
The head of the civil society network in Eastern Equatoria region, Charles Okullu said absence of basic needs affects the wellbeing of soldiers.
He urged the peace partners to continue supporting the implementation of the peace deal as deadline for the formation of a transitional government approaches.
Last week, the parties to the peace deal resolved that at least 50% of the 83,000 necessary unified forces should be trained and deployed before the end of September.
Under the revitalized peace deal, opposition leader Riek Machar, along with four others will be appointed as President Kiir's deputies. A new unity government is expected to be formed in November 2019.