Pibor Administrative Area - Courtesy

A delegation of government and humanitarian agencies comprising two national ministers arrived in the Greater Pibor Administrative Area on Monday to assess the area ahead of an anticipated flooding.

The delegation includes the ministers of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, Water Resources and Irrigation, and UN representatives.

Pibor Information Minister Oleyo Akuer said the visiting delegation will discuss ways to mitigate the looming floods that were forecasted to wreck havoc in many parts of the country.

The assessment visit was announced on 26th July by Humanitarian Minister Albino Atak, flanked by the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in South Sudan Anita Kiki Gbeho – and will now proceed to six flood-prone states to see first-hand the impact of flooding.

Meanwhile, Minister Akuer added that the Humanitarian Affairs Minister, Albino Atak will also look into the reported hunger situation that has so far killed dozens of people in Pibor.

“We received the delegates this morning from the national government with the flood management of the entire Upper Nile and they came today to observe the situation in greater Pibor,” Akuer told Eye Radio.

“They are going to discuss the coming floods, mitigation and readiness of the entire population in greater Pibor.”

“He [minister of humanitarian affairs] will also look into the issue of hunger because we several times send messages calling for support on the issue of hunger.”

In the past five years, flooding has impacted agriculture, displaced communities, and hampered access to basic services such as healthcare and education.

The IGAD climate center predicted that the current rainy season in Great Lakes region will be trigger high volumes of water in rivers and lakes in Burundi, Rwanda, Kenya and DRC – all of which flow into Lake Victoria and ends up in South Sudan.

The six states forecasted to experience devastating floods this season are; Jonglei, Upper Nile, Warrap, Northern Bahr el Ghazal, Unity, Lakes, and Central and Eastern Equatoria states.

Last month, the national cabinet approved a 78-million-US-dollar budget for emergency floods preparedness and response across the country. It is not clear if the budget has been disbursed, as the country suffers dire economic crisis.