Several residents of Yargot Payam in Aweil East County, Northern Bahr el Ghazal, are complaining about the “lack of basic services” in the area including roads, schools for young children, and health centers.

Speaking during a meeting organized by the civil organization South Sudan Network for Democratic Elections (SSUNDE), the Payam's youth Chairperson, Luke Aguer Bol, noted the region counts with only one primary school and not enough teachers. He also pointed to the “complete lack of roads” in the Payam. The meeting was held over the weekend in the area of Guengkou.

“We voted for you in 2010, so that you can be our eyes and bridge between the government and the community. You promised to bring development to our community, but nothing has yet been done. As the youth's representative, I will make sure that you will have zero votes from this constituency in the first elections since the independence of South Sudan if challenges are not addressed,” Bol told MPs.

On the same occasion, Abuk Garang Aleu, women's representative, told MPs and state government officials who attended the gathering that “lack of roads connecting us to the state capital, where every type of institutions are based, results in the death of pregnant women.”

“Women in this area are stopping to reproduce because you may hold the child in the womb for nine months without medical checks and once the delivery date comes you either died or your child, or even sometimes the mother and the baby at the same time. So what is the use of our votes in 2010 for you?” she questioned, while suggesting that the lack of services in the area is a result of the poor administration of local MPs.

For his part, Executive Chief Garang Rual asked government officials how the household taxes of SSP30 collected from the community are being used:

“We are being cheated that the household taxes collected from the community are to be used for development like constructing roads, building health centers and schools. We were told that the government should add some more fund on the top of the household taxes." Rual suggested the household taxes go to private accounts “because of mismanagement.”

The region's MP Hon. Kuac Wek Wol said he appreciated the “facts provided by the entire community”, but told them that “austerity measures in South Sudan delay development.”

He also noted that “things will change if the relationship between the two Sudans become normal and everyone will see the light of development in the country.”