AWEIL-A group of traders in partnership with local authorities of Northern Bahr El Ghazal State has embarked on a clean-up campaign to improve hygiene and sanitation at local markets to prevent cholera outbreaks.
Aweil town council officer Santino Majok Akol told Sudans Post on Tuesday that a committee made up of women and young people has been established to maintain clean markets in order to stop cholera outbreaks.
“Panthou market hosts a lot of people, so we saw to it that it is essential to keep cleaning the market on the daily market so that the faces that are dropped nearby are buried so that flies never spread the disease,” Majok.
Majak said the campaign initiated by traders of Panthou market will encourage market users to come together to combat poor hygiene at local markets.
According to him, the daily general cleaning will guarantee that markets are kept hygienic, protecting traders from cholera epidemics.
“We have enforced an order to every trader to pay 5,000 SSP monthly as inducements for the hygiene workers that have been tasked to do the daily general cleaning and do awareness on prevention and protection of cholera outbreaks,” he said.
He claimed that because people commute to the market, it is prone to sickness.
For his part, Wol Chan Ngor, Acting Chairperson of the State Chamber of Commerce, applauded the council and traders for coming up with this strategy that aimed at improving hygiene and sanitation at the markets.
“It is a great responsibility. We move from shop to shop, and 5,000 SSP is for a big shop. And if a retailer can’t afford 5000 SSP, we request he pay 3,000 SSP to help us keep the environment tidy and deter flies from spreading the outbreak,” said Chan.
On 28 October, the health ministry declared a cholera outbreak in Upper Nile State’s Renk County.
It has since spread to Malakal, Bentiu, Aweil, and other parts of the country, including Juba.
As of January 4, the ministry recorded 15,127 cases and 237 related deaths.
