This article was last updated on May 25, 2022
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Twic East County Commissioner Dau Akoi Jurkuc said that currently the situation is appalling and it threatens the lives, property and livelihoods of more than 120,000 people in the area.
“The threat will be worse within this year due to the water levels which is still at 1.5 to 2 metres high and the forthcoming rain which is one month away will exacerbate the current situation,” Dau said.
“We therefore humbly appeal for your support to ensure that flood menace becomes a history in this community,” he added.
The commissioner’s office facilitated focused group discussions with key informants to collect the information and found out that sections of the dyke must be rehabilitated.
The commissioner said that River Nile traverses the county whose topography is low lying and evenly flat at about 800 feet above sea level predisposing it to massive flooding from both rain and Nile waters during the rainy season between the months of July and November.
“And with all the present of the flooded water in the area it makes the area as seasonal wetland with direct influence to the environment, nature, and land use,” he said.
The commissioner said the county has had a history of the negative effect of floods that occurred in 1960’s where the entire county lost most of its forest cover, crops livestock and there was massive displacement of the population because of floods that was reported to be have been more than 1 meter high and lasted for 7 years.
Dau said protection measures used in the project area to mitigate against floods are the tertiary dyke constructed around affected households and farms, secondary dyke constructed around villages by communities and primary dyke constructed by the government.
Twic East has productive soils and receives adequate annual rainfall that can support varied agricultural and livestock production.
A local chief from Ajuong section said, ‘if the floods are controlled we shall use anything at our disposal to cultivate and make sure that we have enough to eat and sell.”
He said that flooding will be reduced around homesteads, thus improving the immediate environment, health and hygiene and this will also reduce destruction of houses, sheep and goats mortality from flood related diseases.
The poor road infrastructure exacerbates the government speed to react to any emergencies, key being security response in times of insecurity.
The movement of people, goods and services during flooding period also comes to a halt making the cost of living very high thus beyond the reach of the populace.
He said that markets are some of the main food pipelines in Twic East County and during flooding period the markets run out of most of food commodities and prices skyrocket.
“To make it worst the flooding period coincides with the hunger gap April and October) and as a result overstretch the households coping strategies as they try to meet their dietary needs,” Jurkuch said.
For the last 2 years, Twic East County authorities in collaboration with Constituency Development Fund (CDF), Twic East Authority through County Development Grand (CDG) and a private company called ASCOM started the construction of the 34- kilometre strength of dyke at a cost of more than 1.3 million South Sudanese pounds and now approximately to 30 kilometres is done and the remaining 4 kilometres will be completed when the flood water recede.
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