Women and child wade in flood waters at a market in Bor Town on Friday, July 30, 2020 | Credit | Courtesy

An activist has called upon Denay Chagor, governor of Jonglei State, to immediately stop accommodating his government officials in hotels in Bor.

Last week, most of the officials were reportedly transported from Juba to Bor using several chartered flights and convoys to take oath of office.

Observers say the new ministers, advisors, commission officials, including senior military officers from the SPLM-IO and the government, are all being accommodated in hotels within Bor town.

The officials are being accommodated in a $100 per day hotel in the town.

David Garang, who heads the Jonglei Civil Society Network, expressed his disappointment at the move to pay bills for government officials.

He says residents of Bor town and other parts of the state still do not have proper shelters and food following the 2020 floods.

Nearly 80,000 people were displaced in Jonglei and Upper Nile by flash flood, which began in November 2020 and gradually increased through January and February 2021, according to humanitarian agencies.

Garang says any available fund should instead be used to construct dykes in Bor rather than spending it on hotel accommodations.

“The government is not providing services and they are the ones servicing themselves and forgetting the lives of the innocent women and children,” he argued.

There are more than 150 new officials appointed into the Jonglei state government by President Salva Kiir.

It is not clear how many are being accommodated in the hotels and on whose bill.

Residents of Bor town are still struggling with the impact of the devastating floods that hit the town and other parts of Greater Jonglei since last year.

The UN humanitarian coordinator has just issued a warning that the upcoming lean season from May to July 2021 is expected to be the most severe on record.

Alain Noudéhou stated that the upcoming rainy season is forecasted to lead once again to major floods in the most food-insecure areas.

Activist Garang David urged the governor to use the little resources available to provide the much-needed services.

“My appeal to the state government is to ensure that public resources are meant for service delivery to the community, not for accommodating officials, not to give officials tickets to travel to Nairobi or Juba,” he continued.

The UN says South Sudan, and particularly Jonglei, Upper Nile states and Pibor Administrative Area, are facing its highest levels of food insecurity and malnutrition since the country declared independence ten years ago.