Experts urge government to halt dredging of Nam River

JUBA – South Sudanese experts are calling on the government to halt the dredging of Nam River to pave way for what the group called “independent conduct of environmental and social impact assessment study.”

The experts made this call during the public consultative forum on the dredging of Nam River organized by the University of Juba on Friday.

The forum was attended by academia, activists, students, senior government officials, and members of the public.

Prof. John Akec, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Juba said dredging of Nam River would cause the Sudd wetland to dry up.

“Sudd wetland of South Sudan is the largest swamp on the African continent and the second-largest in the world and about 2 million people in South Sudan live around Sudd that provides habitat for a large population of animals, birds, and fish,” Akec.

Nhial Titmamer, a senior researcher at the Sudd Institute, a Juba-based research organization said dredging of rivers doesn’t address the issues of flooding which has devastated the oil-rich state, Unity.

“The magnitude of the floods of last three years will still overflow the normal river channels and even if you were to widen the river beyond the normal, this will still create drastic ecological disaster,” Titmamer said.

Dr.  Yatta Samuel Lukow, Lecturer at the University of Juba said the dredging will have an impact on the Sudd’s aquatic births.

“It will affect those (birds) in many aspects, it will affect the biology of the birds, and it will affect their reproduction and so forth,” Dr. Samuel said.

James Nyuen, Founder of Nile Health, Safety and Environmental Organization said the issue of dredging is not about politics but the life of current and future generations.

“This is not about politics; it is about the life of the next generation to come. It is about our resources and our environment, our ecosystem that supports the lifestyle of our people,” Nyuen said.

Equipment being used for dredging activities arrived in June from Egypt, thus sparking fears and anxiety among the public.

A group of lawyers lodged a legal complaint against the government at the East African Court of Justice (EAC) over what they called “illegal dredging activities along the Nile River” that could have worse environmental effects on the population.