At least 10 boreholes with spoilt hand pumps in Bentiu and Rubkona County in Unity State were repaired by the South Sudan Red Cross (SSRC) Bentiu Branch and handed over on Thursday, allowing over 20,000 people to access clean drinking water.
The communities in the two locations have been surviving by drinking water from River Naam for the last few years.
The head of SSRC in Unity State, Ruai Bang Teny, told Radio Tamazuj on Thursday that the 10 boreholes they repaired were destroyed during the 2013 December conflict and by floods in 2020.
“It is not the first time for us as SSRC to repair boreholes in the state and we used to repair boreholes in Ruweng Administrative Area and across the seven counties in Unity State,” he explained. “Even last month, our staff repaired some boreholes in Mayom County.”
Bang Teny added that it is the mandate of SSRC to provide communities in South Sudan access to clean and safe drinking water.
“20,000 people living in Bentiu and Rubkona are going to be the direct beneficiaries of the 10 boreholes which we started repairing at the beginning of July and have now officially handed over,” he stated.
The SSRC official said the safe water from the boreholes will prevent the spread of waterborne diseases as floods have inundated most of the state.
For his part, John Gatkhor Tut, a resident of Bentiu Town, said he was happy to have access to clean drinking water because they have been drinking from River Naam.
“I am so happy with SSRC for providing us with clean drinking because we have been suffering from waterborne diseases because of floods,” he said.