Charle Judo(middle) and other member of the Civil Society Coalition on Natural Resource | photo | Ray Okech

Members of the Civil Society Coalition on Natural Resources are urging the parties to the peace talks in Khartoum not to sign a deal that will allow Sudan to intervene in protecting oil fields.

Civil Society Coalition on natural resources is an organization which comprises the trade, petroleum, and mine workers of South Sudan.

Currently, a team from Sudan and South are repairing the oil facilities that were damaged during the Panthou or Heglig war in 2012.

These are block A and block 1, 2 and 4 of the former Unity State.

Last month, Michael Makuei said the resumption of oil production was expected to start in September.

But the civil society leaders said though the peace efforts in Khartoum are a positive move, the government should not compromise the natural resources of the country, particularly the oil:

“It is paramount that parties do not compromise South Sudan’s natural resources particularly its petroleum to foreign interest,” said Charles Judo, the chairperson of the coalition.

While addressing a press conference in Juba on Thursday, he said that it is “saddening to see that South Sudanese political elites are giving away the country’s only main resource of revenue to foreign interests at the expense of the citizens”.

The Civil Society Coalition on Natural Resources is made up of eight groups.

These include the Associtiation for Media Development in South Sudan (AMDISS), Greater Bahr El Ghazal Land Alliance (GBLA), Hope Restoration South Sudan (HRSS) and the Institute of Social Policy and Research (ISRP).

Others are the People’s Initiative Development Organization (PIDO), United and Save the Nation (UASN), Upper Nile Youth Development Association (UNYDA) and Workers Trade Union of Petroleum and Mining (WTUPM).