Juba, 08 November, 2019 / 2:12 am (ACI Africa).
At a time the President of South Sudan, Salva Kiir Mayardit has declared flooding in the world’s youngest nation a national disaster, the South Sudanese Bishop who had called for this declaration in an interview with ACI Africa is now urging the government and humanitarian organizations to prioritize the evacuation of people from flood-affected areas to safety.
“The first priority is to evacuate the people to dry places and the rest will come later on,” Bishop Stephen Nyodho told ACI Africa in an interview.
“A lot of things need to be done. First of all, the lives of people have to be saved, we are to try to save the lives of the people in the affected areas if there is a way of evacuating them,” Bishop Nyodho whose diocese of Malakal is one of the most affected areas of the country added.
Explaining the need to prioritize evacuations for people’s safety, the Prelate said in direct reference to humanitarian agencies operating on the ground, “You cannot save lives by sending food when people are still living in the water.”
“They need to be taken out from that (floods) if there are places for them to be taken to,” the 46-year-old South Sudanese Bishop emphasized.
