South Sudan orders probe into Custom Market fire in Juba

JUBA – South Sudan’s government on Monday ordered an investigation into the cause of a fire that tore through parts of Juba’s largest and oldest market, Custom Market, killing a five-year-old child and destroying dozens of shops.

The blaze broke out on Monday evening at the busy trading hub in the capital, sending thick smoke into the sky and wiping out traders’ stalls and stock, according to local authorities.

Information and Communication Minister Ateny Awek Ateny said the government would launch a full investigation to establish what caused the fire.

“The government of the Republic of South Sudan will first investigate the reason why the fire actually gutted the whole area. The market. Yes, after finding the reason, the government will be able to speak about what cost it can take in the circumstances,” Wek told SSBC on Monday.

Wek urged traders affected by the inferno to remain resilient despite the losses.

“My message for them is to be resilient and take it into consideration that everything happens for a reason. If your thing gets burnt and you are alive, life is the most important thing.”

“But for the meantime, I want to help those who have lost their properties and they are alive to know that things happen for a reason. If anything happened to your shops and you are alive, thank God for that. And let’s wait to see the investigation,” he said.

Emmanuel Adil Anthony, the Governor of Central Equatoria State, said authorities had launched consultations with security agencies and market leadership to determine the cause of the fire.

“As of course, we just finished a consultative meeting with the security and the leadership of the Minister of Trade and the City Council. For us, we want to find out exactly the root cause of this fire. It’s a very huge damage for our traders. We as a government sympathize and then console with you at this time, this difficult time of the losses,” Emmanuel said.

He instructed the Juba City Council to form a committee bringing together multiple stakeholders to assess the damage, count the number of destroyed shops and determine the possible cause.

“One important thing, as I always tell our people, is that most of these shops are iron sheets. And with the challenge now of the dry season, definitely this is raising a lot of challenges. But again, I want to call upon our people.”

Christopher Sarafino Wani, the Mayor of Juba City Council, said the scale of destruction was extensive and pledged support to affected traders.

“The damage is big and the losses are huge. And us as a government of the City Council would like to tell our traders that we’re going to stand with them. We’re going to stand with them to ensure that they stabilize themselves,” Sarafino said.

He said a joint committee led by the city council, including criminal investigators and market stakeholders, would probe the fire.

“The committee will be headed by Juba City Council including the CID and all the stakeholders in this market here so that we can be able to establish the root cause of this fire,” he said.

“It’s very important that we get to know the root cause of this fire because we feel that these fires could be prevented so that it doesn’t happen to other markets in the city.”

Sarafino warned against speculation about the cause of the blaze.

“My message to those who are speculating and trying to incite incidents that are yet to happen, I’m telling them please stop speculating because this is your country in the first place. And by wishing bad luck to your fellow citizens is not a good one,” he said.

Mayor added that “A fire can happen anywhere in the world. This fire can happen as a result of incident or as a result of negligence, of putting some inflammable materials closer to fire. It can even cause fire.”