Ganji Payam Authorities in Juba County of Central Equatoria State have complained of lack of services in the area saying their only schools have closed down this year.
A local leader who identified himself as Yugusuk said the three schools in the payam closed this year because the teachers have left the area due to lack of salary payment by the government. He said Kulipapa, Kagwada and Ganji primary schools have closed down due to lack of teachers.
Yugusuk also noted that that Kulipapa had already closed last year because it was occupied by the army making teachers and children unable to attend classes. He urged the government to work hard to restore the education of their children by providing the teachers their pay.
The leader added that the area has no medical service saying there are medical personnel but drugs are not supplied to the medical unit in the payam. “We sometimes go to Lainya but if the sickness is serious we go to Juba,” he said.
He added that although the country is facing a hard situation the residents of the area will try their level best to grow food this year if the rainy season starts. “It rained once since the beginning of the year,” he said. He said currently the citizens mostly rely on eating cassava leaves as the land still remains dry.
“As there is no rain since the beginning of the year we eat cassava leaves because it is the only greens that we have now. The cassava we planted last year is what we rely on this year. Last year there was too much sun and many of our crops had poor yield and harvest,” the local leader said.
Yugusuk also explained that residents now fear to move to cultivate in their far gardens due to insecurity citing the presence of armed men and movement of cattle keepers. The leader encouraged his citizens to grow teak trees, lemon, and mango trees for the future generation.
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