Heavy downpours brought on by the rainy season have blocked access to roads leading to the greater Mayom area, hindering the delivery of humanitarian assistance to cantonment sites located there.
“The roads are in dire conditions because of the rain,” Mayom town council executive director, James Mathak, told a reporter from Radio Mairaya. “I am calling on all humanitarian partners to deliver as much assistance as possible.”
Braving the quagmires left in the wake of the floods, Mongolian peacekeepers and civilian staff from the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) this week mounted bicycles and pedaled through the mud in order to assess the security situation of key routes leading to hard-to-reach areas such as Mankien and Man-nyethiang, both part of the Bong cantonment sites.
Several structures have been badly affected by the rains, leaving the cantoned troops facing a shortage of drinking water and medical supplies.
“We need our peace partners to bring medicine and water, so that we can continue to do our job of bringing peace and security to the area” said Lieutenant Colonel Nhial Gak Riek, a military representative at one of the cantonment sites.