Kiir, Machar direct for ‘immediate’ dredging of Nam River

JUBA. FEBRUARY 15^th 2023 (SUDANS POST) – President Salva Kiir Mayardit and his first deputy Dr. Riek Machar Teny have agreed for an “immediate” dredging of the Nam River in Unity State and have directed concerned agencies and state government to carry out the project, according to a presidential aide.

Speaking to Sudans Post exclusively on Tuesday, the presidential aide who refused to be named said that the agreement for dredging within the presidency was reached during a meeting of the president chaired by Kiir on Wednesday in which other important issues were also discussed.

“You may recall that there was a meeting on Friday last week. In that meeting, the presidency during their meeting agreed that the long-awaited dredging should take place and it will start from Bentiu town and will go in two directions,” the official said.

The first one will start at Bentiu port and will go towards Lake No in the river Nile. The other will start from Bentiu port also and will go through Bahr el Ghazal westward and this should be done immediately,” the official said.

The river dredging was a very controversial issue in South Sudan last year and sparked political sentiments between opponents and proponents forcing the president to conduct a public consultation on the matter.

The outcome of that consultation recommended that the government should first conduct feasibility studies before it goes on with the plan.