Minister of Livestock and Fisheries, Onyoti Adigo speaking to Eye Radio's Sundown Program. |31st May 2022| Credit: Lou Nelson.
The National Minister of Animal Resource and Fisheries has raised concern over the safety of aircraft operating in South Sudan and called for stricter regulation to ensure reliability of aviation in the country.
On January 29, a tragic plane crashed shocked the country when a flight operated by Light Air Service carrying 19 passengers and two crew members – came down shortly after takeoff from Unity oilfield, killing 20 people.
The victims were oil engineers and workers including 15 South Sudan nationals, two Chinese, one Indian and two Ugandans. One person survived and has been receiving medical treatment.
The aircraft had safely landed earlier at the oilfield while transporting a top official of the Greater Pioneer Operating Company (GPOC). After engineers and technical staff of the company boarded the return flight to Juba for a routine monthly shift, it crashed in a bushy area in Unity State three minutes later.
The accident is one of the many plane crashes that have occurred in South Sudan and killed 87 people since independence, according to data obtained from the Aviation Safety Network.
Minister Onyoti Adigo – speaking at the funeral rite of late Eng. Okuj Yor Okij who was among the victims of the Unity State plane crash – said the poor condition of the aviation industry has resulted in loss of many lives.
Mr. Adigo alleged that many of the planes operating in South Sudan are likely outdated. He blamed the accidents on negligence and lack of rigorous inspections for aircraft before they are allowed to operate in the country.
According to him, South Sudan has become a dumping ground for substandard aircraft from around the world, simply due to relaxed regulations and oversight.
“The problem with our country, the industry that are working here, the airplanes that are working here, most of all these planes are expired, but South Sudan has become a dumping place for all the garbage’s in the world.”
“That is our own weakness, because we don’t check the planes that are working here. A lot of planes that are used in our country, even their licensing are outside the country. There are a lot of plane crashes but when the investigation are done, their license are found from outside.”
“This means they were supposed to work somewhere elsewhere, but they are brought to South Sudan where the garbage’s are dumped.”
The cause of the crash that killed 20 people in Unity State remains unknown.
However, the government said it obtained the black box and would send it to the U.S for investigation to establish the cause of the tragic incident.
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