Gov’t official tells illegal occupants of wildlife land to vacate or face demolition  

JUBA – Illegal occupants of South Sudan Ministry of Wildlife Conservation and Tourism’s land should evacuate or face demolition, a senior government official has warned.

Gen. Rizig Zachariah Hassan, Minister of Wildlife Conservation and Tourism said the Presidential committee on land will not allocate land documents to those illegal occupants.

“Anybody who built his or her house within the ministry’s compound should not be given land documents by the committee,” Zachariah said during the welcoming ceremony of the newly appointed undersecretary and directors on Monday in Juba.

Zachariah warned officers against the illegal selling of the ministry’s lands to civilians.

“Any building who built here has wasted his or resources and I want to tell those who might be planning to sell the land belonging to the ministry to stop it,” said Zachariah.

Zachariah directed his Director-General, Gen. Khamis Adieng to address issues of rampant informal settlement on the ministry’s land.

“I want you the Director-General and the rest of the officers to look into this issue of those who are constructing their houses at the ministry’s compound,” he said.

“As a soldier who is well trained and organized, you should sit down and watch civilians taking over the land that belongs to your ministry. Why do you allow civilians to sell your land and what is your use?”

He ordered those illegal occupants to evacuate the land with immediate effect.

“We have started the reformation process to reclaim our land, whether you erected a building on it or not, you should evacuate our land,” he said.

“We were given this land by local authorities of Central Equatoria based on our programs and projects of Wildlife. We are supposed to have a residential area for the soldiers, orphanages, and others in this compound.”

The 12-member committee is co-chaired by Michael Chiangjiek, national minister of lands, housing, and Urban Development, and Emmanuel Adil Anthony, Governor of Central Equatoria.

The Committee is mandated to map out areas affected by informal settlements and land grabbing in Juba City and Juba County, including estimates of populations, household members, and other related demographic data.

It is also tasked with ascertaining the causes of informal settlement and land grabbing in Juba County.

The order mandated the committee to summon and interview any person or persons including community leaders where it is appropriate to establish any information relating to the subject matter.

South Sudan’s transitional constitution states that the land belongs to the people but the government remains the custodian.