Map of Jonglei State Courtesy - of - www.voanews.com

A member of the National Parliament representing Pibor County is calling for humanitarian aid to be provided to people in the area.

Honorable Banguot Amum said the ceasefire agreement signed between the government and the South Sudan Defense Army–Cobra faction of David Yau Yau, should open the way for humanitarian organizations to provide food and medication to people who have been displaced.

Last month, the government and Yau Yau’s group signed an agreement in Addis Ababa, which both sides said would create a conducive environment for negotiations on issues that brought about conflict between the two sides.

Honorable Banguot Amum told Eye Radio that providing food and other essential humanitarian supplies would enable civilians to return to Pibor County.

“There has been a war for a long time in that county and the communities have been devastated. We have people who have run for refuge in different countries, but there are those who have stayed in the bushes of those villages. These people have been living on wild fruit, wild vegetables and fish, and it is not enough to leave them like that. So since there is peace between Yau Yau and the government, I wish humanitarian agencies would support the communities who are there, that peace should give dividends to the communities. If there are traders in Juba, let them come to Pibor,” she said.

On other matters, David Yau Yau recently said that his movement demands a separate state for Pibor out of Jonglei state.

Yau Yau said that turning Pibor County into a separate state would help speed up service delivery, and enable development to take place.

However, Honorable Banguot Amum, who represents Pibor County in the National Parliament, said the demand is not a well-thought-out plan.

She said dividing Jonglei state will not address the issues of insecurity and underdevelopment in the area.

“For me, a Member of Parliament, I am aware that we have only 10 states, where Jonglei is one of them, so there is nowhere Yau Yau can be given a state because of his demand, or people of Greater Pibor, for that matter. Yes, that thing can happen when there is a full transition for the country, and you amend the Constitution as the people of South Sudan, and you see the type of governance that can make us live amicably and see whether we want to increase the states or whether we want to go back to the regions. In that situation, the government needs to control that because when people are living on their own without roads and without access to anything that they can live on, it is a source of conflict. So we should provide services so that it will solve the problems of our communities,” she added.

Honorable Banguot said the government and the people of Jonglei state should discuss how services can reach all the counties without discrimination.