Sarah Alfonso, Grade 11
UWCEA Arusha Campus
There are a lot of interesting issues going on in my country at the moment, but what captures my attention it the above. My country South Sudan is situated in the heart of Africa and longest river Nile divides this country into two. So in a case where there exists a water body, flooding would obviously occur. Especially if it’s a long river like Nile getting its water from lake Victoria, crossing four countries and pouring its water in the great Mediterranean sea.
Recently there has been a series of discussions by south Sudanese in and outside the county about the dredging of the Nam Rivers which is along the river Nile. Dredging is defined as the removal of sediments and debris from the bottom of water bodies. This basically involves evacuation of either naturally deposited sediments or manmade debris such as bottom rocks, plant and animal matter.
This issue got a lot of youths in heated conversations on social media and lots of articles being written about it. It has both opponents and proponents, some people are in favor of the dredging while others are not in favor of it. I would basically say it has gotten the youths and elders of the country split between weather to dredge the river or not.
This hasn’t only ended with the common citizen of the country, but also the big country holders. The governing body, the president and the vice presidents have been split into two. Some are in favor of it while others were not in favor of it.
The President of the republic of south Sudan, on 9th July, the independence day of south Sudan had suspended the dredging of the Nam Rivers and encouraged more feasibility study about the issue. This was because scientist had warned earlier on that the dredging of that part of river Nile will be more disadvantageous and many of the citizens are against it. It’s true that the dredging might reduce the basic problem being faced in the areas around such as flooding, but the dredging the river would not be the best solution for the problem being faced. This is because it would cause more effects such as famine and drought since the dredging will cause much flow of water downstream towards Sudan and Egypt.
Her Excellency Mrs. Nyandeng Rebecca, the vice president for Gender and Youth cluster sided with the president on the issue of the suspension of the dredging and doing of further feasibility study. She cautioned that unless addressed with sobriety, the issue could attract a law suit from members of the Nile basin. As I had mentioned earlier on, River Nile is being shared by four countries, so dredging of any part of the river requires acceptance from all those who are part of the Nile basin. South Sudan has no rights to solely decide on the dredging of any part of the river because at the end of the day it will affect all the four countries.
The decision taken by the president to suspend the dredging was opposed by three other vice presidents. This included the First Vice President, Dr. Riek Machar, Vice President for economic cluster, Dr James Wani Igga and Vice President for infrastructure Taban Deng Gai. They asked the ministry of water and resources to continue with dredging.
Dr. Machar said the council of ministers had already decided on the commencement of the project so not even experts should devalue that. I personally feel this isn’t right because it feels more like dictatorship and the public voices are not being considered nor even the presidents.
Dr. James Wani Igga, vice president for economic cluster called for the urgent rescue of citizens deprived of their livelihoods due to the flooding in the surrounding regions. “ in Bentiu now 50 percent are displaced and we think we should wait until all the scientists of the world are finished and then we will come rescue them from drowning? Ah, that would be very insensitive. Death is death cannot wait,” DR Wani Igga said.
South Sudan information Minister Hon. Micheal makuei said that the idea of feasibility study by the government before conducting the dredging of River Nile tributaries is not bad but it should not be at the expense of the communities affected by floods.
So basically the issue is to save the people around the region from flooding that’s why the decision is being made to dredge the river. But flooding is a natural phenomenon so dredging still won’t be a permanent solution to this problem, instead it might come with, more effects. According to an article I read by George Manboit, dredging won’t stop floods but make them worse.
According to me, instead of having a whole lot of arguments on this matter and making it personal at the end of it all, the government and those responsible should be planning on getting a permanent solution for the flooding. Such can be construction of dams and water reservoirs. Instead of making the water to all flow downstream leading to water shortage, we could best use water reservoirs and control flooding at the same time have enough water to carry out farming, for animals to use and human survival.
Image Courtesy: https://sudantribune.com/article260020/
https://www.sudanspost.com/makuei-feasibility-study-should-not-be-at-the-expense-of-the-people-because-it-is-human-being-first/
https://cityreviewss.com/nyandeng-dredging-canal-digging-non-issues-deal-with-oil-pollution/
https://sudantribune.com/article261586/
Recently there has been a series of discussions by south Sudanese in and outside the county about the dredging of the Nam Rivers which is along the river Nile. Dredging is defined as the removal of sediments and debris from the bottom of water bodies. This basically involves evacuation of either naturally deposited sediments or manmade debris such as bottom rocks, plant and animal matter.
This issue got a lot of youths in heated conversations on social media and lots of articles being written about it. It has both opponents and proponents, some people are in favor of the dredging while others are not in favor of it. I would basically say it has gotten the youths and elders of the country split between weather to dredge the river or not.
This hasn’t only ended with the common citizen of the country, but also the big country holders. The governing body, the president and the vice presidents have been split into two. Some are in favor of it while others were not in favor of it.
The President of the republic of south Sudan, on 9th July, the independence day of south Sudan had suspended the dredging of the Nam Rivers and encouraged more feasibility study about the issue. This was because scientist had warned earlier on that the dredging of that part of river Nile will be more disadvantageous and many of the citizens are against it. It’s true that the dredging might reduce the basic problem being faced in the areas around such as flooding, but the dredging the river would not be the best solution for the problem being faced. This is because it would cause more effects such as famine and drought since the dredging will cause much flow of water downstream towards Sudan and Egypt.
Her Excellency Mrs. Nyandeng Rebecca, the vice president for Gender and Youth cluster sided with the president on the issue of the suspension of the dredging and doing of further feasibility study. She cautioned that unless addressed with sobriety, the issue could attract a law suit from members of the Nile basin. As I had mentioned earlier on, River Nile is being shared by four countries, so dredging of any part of the river requires acceptance from all those who are part of the Nile basin. South Sudan has no rights to solely decide on the dredging of any part of the river because at the end of the day it will affect all the four countries.
The decision taken by the president to suspend the dredging was opposed by three other vice presidents. This included the First Vice President, Dr. Riek Machar, Vice President for economic cluster, Dr James Wani Igga and Vice President for infrastructure Taban Deng Gai. They asked the ministry of water and resources to continue with dredging.
Dr. Machar said the council of ministers had already decided on the commencement of the project so not even experts should devalue that. I personally feel this isn’t right because it feels more like dictatorship and the public voices are not being considered nor even the presidents.
Dr. James Wani Igga, vice president for economic cluster called for the urgent rescue of citizens deprived of their livelihoods due to the flooding in the surrounding regions. “ in Bentiu now 50 percent are displaced and we think we should wait until all the scientists of the world are finished and then we will come rescue them from drowning? Ah, that would be very insensitive. Death is death cannot wait,” DR Wani Igga said.
South Sudan information Minister Hon. Micheal makuei said that the idea of feasibility study by the government before conducting the dredging of River Nile tributaries is not bad but it should not be at the expense of the communities affected by floods.
So basically the issue is to save the people around the region from flooding that’s why the decision is being made to dredge the river. But flooding is a natural phenomenon so dredging still won’t be a permanent solution to this problem, instead it might come with, more effects. According to an article I read by George Manboit, dredging won’t stop floods but make them worse.
According to me, instead of having a whole lot of arguments on this matter and making it personal at the end of it all, the government and those responsible should be planning on getting a permanent solution for the flooding. Such can be construction of dams and water reservoirs. Instead of making the water to all flow downstream leading to water shortage, we could best use water reservoirs and control flooding at the same time have enough water to carry out farming, for animals to use and human survival.
Image Courtesy: https://sudantribune.com/article260020/
https://www.sudanspost.com/makuei-feasibility-study-should-not-be-at-the-expense-of-the-people-because-it-is-human-being-first/
https://cityreviewss.com/nyandeng-dredging-canal-digging-non-issues-deal-with-oil-pollution/
https://sudantribune.com/article261586/
www.unitedworldwide.co