By Friday Gift
Over the past few months, controversy surrounding the delay in demarcation and allotment of residential plots has led to a rise in tensions between residents and local authorities in Yambio County. Several past efforts by the authorities to demarcate plots in the County have been largely unsuccessful with only a few residential areas securing demarcation. The delay in plot demarcation coupled with fear amongst residents has been blamed for the confusion surrounding the plans to undertake the exercise.
In the wake of all the confusion, residents, most of whom have been temporarily operating on undemarcated plots have expressed fears about the demolishment of their structures without prior notice.
Mr James Renzi, Chairman of Naduru Youth Group, operating in a residential area in Yambio County said, “locals have the capability to construct concrete buildings on their plots but, restrictions imposed by the County authorities have made it impossible to do so.”
Mr Renzi continued that, “the little money locals save for post Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) development of their areas might get finished before somebody is able to construct his or her concrete house.”
Previous attempts by the County authorities to demarcate roads have been characterized by demolition of illegally constructed buildings. Affected residents have had to contend with counting huge losses as they helplessly watch their buildings come tumbling down.
Atoroba James, one of those recently affected by the ongoing road reconstruction work said, “My five rooms were in the path of the road and I was instructed to demolish all of them.” Like many affected residents, Atoroba does not know whether he will be compensated for the loss incurred or even know what his next move should be.
Earlier, the County Engineer Baira Christo Bakosoro issued a directive, banning any further construction of permanent buildings without approval by the concerned authorities. In his order, Baira warned, “If anybody is found constructing on the plots that have not been demarcated they will be fined 100 SDG by the County taxation office.”
“The reason for issuing local orders was to allow residential areas to be demarcated according to the town planning committee”, he explained. This, the engineer sought to elaborate, meant that no construction would be allowed in the town without approval by the town planning committee. This process includes acquisition of land lease and legal papers. He attributed the delay in the survey and demarcations of plots to an acute shortage of qualified technical staff in the survey department.
Baira decried inadequate funding by concerned state authorities to compensate victims affected by recent road reconstructions. He also assured residents that most of the survey work will kick off after the Referendum slated for January next year. In his response, Mr. Body Michael, the Executive Director of Yambio County said, “The issue of demarcations of residential areas and allotment of plots all over the state is of high concern and priority to the County Authorities.”
He disclosed that the county survey department had agreed with the State Ministry of Physical Infrastructure to convene a joint meeting with all stakeholders to address some of the highly technical problems. These include the State Directorate of Survey and Town Planning and the County Engineers.
For the already demarcated areas, Mr. Body stated that the demarcation committee had only been tasked with registering already demarcated plots, an exercise he said would commence soon. The state of infrastructure in Southern Sudan testifies to the more than two decades of civil war that caused so much destruction and claimed millions of lives, while hindering development.
