Local authorities in the Jonglei State capital, Bor town on Friday installed a water-pumping machine to drain off floodwaters in the town, amidst the rising waters level.
Speaking to Radio Tamazuj, Mabior Bol Ayom, the state land, and public utility minister said the newly installed plant will save the floods-prone town of Bor from recurring floods.
“On Friday, we launched this water pump (installed near the Nile at the Leudier area), to evacuate rainwaters from the town to the river. According to our calculation, Bor receives average daily rainfalls of 120 mm," Minister Mabior said. “And from that one-third of the waters will be absorbed into the soil while two-thirds will remain to be evacuated by the machine within 10 hours to avoid flooding. The one we installed now is with the capacity of evacuating 2.7 million liters of water per hour."
The state minister pointed out that the machine has been operational since Friday, and that construction works on a drainage system to connect the town rainwaters to the new plant are ongoing.
“As we speak, we are almost done with the drainage system that will take the town water to the pool constructed near the machine (the pool connected to the machine for the evacuation process). So, I am telling the people of Bor that by the next season, we will have done with the drainage system for the whole town, and the machine will help them.”
Mabior, however, called on the aid agencies to come to their aid, by supplying fuel and help them expedite the construction works on the drainage system, saying that government resources are overstretched.
For his part, Bior Ajang Jaden, an activist with the civil society organization ATAKA Hub, welcomed the government initiative but urged the government to embark on a long-term solution to combat recurring floods in the town of Bor.
“The problem of this town is that residential areas are not served with the channels so each neighborhood holds its water. Yes, I welcome this initiative by the government and its partners. But they should build a drainage system and a storage facility so that these rainwaters are harvested for our benefit,” he said.
Bor town, the capital of Jonglei State, is a flood-prone area experiencing floods that displace residents and destroy livelihoods annually.
According to reports, about 30,000 people have been displaced by the floods since the beginning of September.