Juba, South Sudan
January 31, 2022 — The South Sudan Mine Action Authority (SSMA) is concerned that there are still numerous landmines in many parts of the country and especially Equatorian region.
Officials from the SSMA and United Nations Mission’s mine action unit visited a land mine detonation site in Gondokoro near Juba last Wednesday to witness the detonation of landmines.
Speaking to journalists at the event, the chairperson of SSMA, Mr. Jurkuch Barach Jurkuch said there are still threats of landmines in South Sudan especially in the Equatoria region.
“There are still threats of land mines due to the 21 years of war that lasted from 1983 to 2005.” Jurkuch told Journalists.
“Landmines were planted in different areas all over South Sudan but the concentration of the war was majorly in Equatoria generally.” Jurkuch continued.
He said demining operations have been moving slowly due to scarcity of resources, issue of floods, and war but a large portion of the country has been cleared of mines; however, they are left with an area of about 400 square kilometers to be cleared.
“There is a question of lack of enough resources, insecurity, and flooding which are hindering the work for the deminers, “Today we have cleared over one billion square kilometers across the country. What is left is about 400 square kilometers area across the country.”, Jurkuch added.
Mr. Fran O’Grady, the UNMISS’ chief of the mine action program said the most vulnerable people to landmines in South Sudan are children and as such all suspicious objects should be reported.
“If you see an item that is suspicious, do not touch it and report it to the authorities so that it can be removed, when we look at a lot of the casualties, it is young children because children play with things. They climb around, look at scrap metal, and look at things in the rubbish pits. So, my message for the children is that if you see something, do not touch it.”, O’Grady said.
He stressed that their operations across the country have been negatively affected by accessibility challenges.
“Some of the challenges in South Sudan is because when there is flooding, it is harder for us to strategically get to the location to clear the mines,.” O’Grady said.
“Sometimes there are access issues but we need to make sure that the international community and the national partners come together and work together.” he further added.
