Inhabitants of Malek Payam in Rumbek Central County, Lakes State, who have voluntarily returned to their villages have received a water yard financed by the Netherlands Embassy through UNICEF and built by the Center for Emergency Development Support (CEDS).
The water yard in Malek Payam was officially inaugurated on Saturday at a function attended by state government officials, community members, chiefs, women, youth, the Payam’s executive director, and the director general at the state ministry of physical infrastructure, housing, lands, and public utilities.
Hakim Machar, the chairperson of the Malek Payam community, said he was happy with the construction of the water yard and asked for more to be installed in villages that suffer from water scarcity.
“I am happy to witness the handing over of this water yard in Malek Payam today (Saturday). I want to request UNICEF and CEDS, who are implementing partners, to bring more water to other areas which lack water like the villages of Ajuong, Tilei, and Mamer,” he said. “We have talked to the community who collect water from the yard not to overcrowd the water point but to orderly line up when collecting water so that the water yard is clean.”
For his part, the paramount chief of Malek Payam, Machar Magot Kok, appealed to UNICEF and CEDS for more water hand pumps.
“These people were residing in Rumbek East, Cueibet, and Wulu counties as IDPs because they fled communal violence from here,” he explained. “They have now returned to their respective villages but they do not have food and enough drinking water.”
Meanwhile, David Ayuen Mawel, a Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) engineer and the cluster coordinator for CEDS in Lakes State, expressed happiness about the completion of the water yard.
“We have so far constructed and upgraded four water yards in Lakes State,” he said. “The community of Malek Payam is direct the beneficiary of this project and today (Saturday) we have handed over the water yard to the community.”
Rumbek Central County Commissioner Dut Manak emphasized the need to sustain the water facility.
“Today we are launching the water yard in Malek Payam in Rumbek Central County,” he said. “Since the coming of Governor Gen. Riny Tueny Mabor, the county has been stable and the whole of Lakes State has become peaceful and the citizens have become one people.”
For her part, Joh Dhelbeny Kok Malok, a woman representative in Malek Payam, thanked CEDS and UNICEF for providing water to the community.
“Everyone is now able to get access to clean drinking water including domestic and some wild animals like monkeys,” she said. “We the women of Malek Payam are extremely happy.”
Dhelbeny appealed to UNICEF and other development partners to continue supporting the returnees in Malek Payam with basic needs and services, including food assistance.