The reopening of the University of Bahr el Ghazal has been delayed as renovation work is taking longer than expected, a top official said.

Prof. Victor Lagu Kwajok, the university’s Vice Chancellor, said on Monday that renovation of the institution would first be completed before students can register for the new academic year.

“The renovation work started on June 6 and we contracted it for 45 days. Unfortunately, there was an interruption when the contractor was bringing building materials from Juba. It happened that on the way between Juba and Yirol, one of the bridges broke down before the car could come to the other side, so it delayed for some times but later the car arrived and materials were offloaded. We have now started the work well,” Lagu said.

He did not disclose when the ongoing renovation work would be completed.

“Now we have some days because we delayed, so once we finish the water installation and the bathrooms, including the toilets, we will start the academic year of 2019-2020,” he added.

Lagu further said most of the support for the ongoing renovation work at the university came from people of the Greater Bahr el Ghazal region.

“Most of the donations come from businessmen in Greater Bahr el Ghazal. The number is growing and most of the people donated their one month salary for the work at the university. There are around four people who have already remitted their money in the council’s account in one of the commercial banks in Wau,” Lagu said.

He added, “So these are the funds that have come and they are separate from that of the university”.

The top administrator decried lack of funds at the higher learning institution, urging students and parents to be patient as the university prepares to reopen.

The University of Bahr el Ghazal is one of the five public institutions in South Sudan.