ISLAMABAD – A team of Pakistani engineers working with the United NationsMissions in South Sudan are now reinforcing hundreds of kilometres of dykesthey built some two years ago to save communities in the Unity State fromthe relentless floods and leaching mud, the UN said.
When the water levels first began rising alarmingly in 2021, UNMISSengineers from Pakistan swiftly led the charge by building hundreds ofkilometers of dykes, temporary defense structures against the cascadingwaters and leaching mud.
“We were the first responders and constructed some 88 kilometers of dykesduring the first phase,” explains Major Waqas Saeed Khan, CommandingOfficer of the Pakistani engineers.
“When we arrived to Bentiu in 2021, the water level was 90 centimetersdeep. By 2022, water levels virtually doubled and, now, in 2023, we aretalking of around 190 centimeters of flood waters in some locations,”reveals Major Khan.
He said, “Our work in past months has mainly been to reinforce dykes. Weare transforming them into three-and-a-half meter high walls, which arewide enough for vehicles and people to use as roads”.
Read Top Stories
Hiroko Hirahara, Head of Office for the UNMISS, said: “Our goal, as thelargest UN presence on the ground, has been to forge partnerships with allcounterparts—humanitarians, local communities, state authorities—to come upwith a consolidated plan to alleviate widespread suffering.”
UNMISS peacekeepers from Ghana and Mongolia were also patrolling thesedykes continuously to report on and sandbag any breakage or leaks.
