Africa-Press – South-Sudan. By James Atem Kuir
The Minister of Defense and Veterans Affairs, Angelina Teny has told the national legislature that Unity State– one of the states hit hard by floods last year – was at risk of being reduced to islands by seasonal floods that hit parts of the country during the rainy reason.
Ms. Teny who herself hails from Unity State told the national legislators on Monday that 80 percent of the state, including the capital, Bentiu town, was submerged underwater as a result of flooding last year.
Last year, close to one million people were affected by flooding in 31 counties across the country with Jonglei, Unity, and Upper Nile state being the hard-hit according to the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA).
“There has been a lot of comment here about things to do with climate change and we have the minister of environment who is the right person to answer this question but I just want to make a comment. Unity State is going to be reduced to small islands when the rains come,” the Defense Minister said during a parliamentarian session to debate the budget on Monday.
The minister said the Sudd swamp, Africa’s largest wetland, which seats in parts of states bordering the Nile River, has taken over chunks of the oil-rich UnityState and that barriers meant to keep floodwaters out of dwellings, especially in Bentiu town could be overwhelmed when rains arrive.
“And mark my words, Bentiu itself may have to be relocated because the Sudd has been expanding very rapidly. It is expanding at a rate of more than 10 percent. It is now 10 percent more than what it used to be.
“I’m glad the(August) House is talking about climate change but this is an area really that needs a lot of attention. A whole state is now 80 percent underwater and when you see that dyke is as high as this wall and the water is on top of the dyke. With just two days of rain, it is going to break the dyke and Bentiu will be gone. This is the reality,” she said.
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