Stephen Lemi, Commissioner of Wonduruba County in South Sudan’s Jubek State says he is deeply concerned about the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation for people in his county due to shortages of food and health services, amid absence of NGOs operating in the area for nearly two years.
Speaking to Radio Tamazuj, the commissioner pointed out that the two warring parties have denied access to the United Nations and Red Cross since the war broke out in Wonduruba.
“It was only on the fifth of July 2016 when we went together with a security team of UNMISS and they assessed the security situation. So, after they were about to report this to the NGOs that are willing to go to Wonduruba, unfortunately, the July accident happened,” said Stephen.
The local official pointed out that several NGOs that attempted to go to Wonduruba were stopped by gunmen.”Up to now there is no way to take relief to wonduruba. Red Cross has tried its best to go to Wonduruba to assess the situation, but they were sent back,” said Stephen.
The local official voiced concern over deteriorating health conditions, saying people are dying due to acute shortages of medicines in the area.”No medicines, because there is no way to take the medicines to Wonduruba,”he said.
Lemi noted that the local residents in Wonduruba are currently living in the open since their houses were torched during clashes. The commissioner urged the national government and the international community to rescue the people of Wonduruba as soon as possible.