Women in Lainya County have complained about the lack of clean drinking water which has exposed the community to water-borne diseases.
Roda Kiden, a resident in Kenyi Payam, told Radio Tamazuj that women often walk long distances in search of clean drinking water since most of the boreholes have broken down.
“We are fetching water from the wells which are contaminated and many of us face health complications here due to consumption of dirty water and sometimes young girls end up being raped in the process of looking for clean water. Some of the children do not bath due to lack of access to water sources in the village,” Kiden lamented.
Winnie James, a resident of Bereka Payam of Lainya County, also complained about the water shortage. She, too, says most of the boreholes in her area are in a bad state due to the conflicts in the area.
She appealed to the government and humanitarian organizations to drill or rehabilitate more boreholes in the county to address the issue.
“There is no clean water in the area, all the boreholes are rusted and broken down and women here travel long distance looking for clean water from the wells. I am urging the government and the NGOs to rehabilitate or drill more boreholes to help us in Lainya County,” Winnie appealed.
Lainya County Executive Director, Mohamed Manase Levi, confirmed the challenges saying the government lacks funds to drill or rehabilitate the boreholes.
Manase called on development and humanitarian partners in the country to drill and rehabilitate more boreholes so that returnees and IDPs who have returned to resettle in their villages can have access to clean drinking water.
“There are many places in the Payams and Bomas where there is no access to clean water and women in those villages are forced to walk long distances in search of clean water from the wells and this is indeed a challenge to many of them. I am calling, if there are NGOs outside there, let them come and help the women and the people of Lainya County with clean water,” Manase said.
Lainya County, located on the Yei-Juba road, is one of the counties in Central Equatoria State witnessing a returnee population increase after the formation of the unity government.