South Sudan’s civil defense woefully lacking in resources

By Benjamin Takpiny

JUBA, South Sudan (AA) – People in South Sudan say the country’s Civil Defense Service attends to emergencies without adequate resources, which leads to loss of life and property.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency on the eve of World Civil Defense Day on Tuesday, Taha Mohammed, a businessman who lost two of his shops to fires last year, claimed that the firefighters that responded the incidents did not carry water, as they are mandated to.

He said the Civil Defense Service in South Sudan is very weak and cannot rescue citizens once there is a fire.

“Fires have broken out many times here in Juba, and every time people have tried calling the fire department, they have always been late, and later they arrived when everything was over. They have really let us down as businesspeople in the country. We could have preserved a lot of things if they had arrived on time.”

He called on the government to strengthen its civil defense services to rescue citizens whenever there are fires in the country.

“This is an embarrassment. Why are they coming with a fire truck without enough water? Where is water? Are they really serious about saving the lives and property of people? This is a clear failure of the leadership in the country.”

Mayen Daniel, another shop owner, whose shop was burnt to ashes in December last year, said he lost all the merchandise he reserved for the Christmas season and does not know what to do.

“Our Civil Defense Service is one of the weakest in the world. They cannot manage to rescue anything once there is a fire outbreak. They come and look at you suffering from the fire and cannot do anything.

“I lost all the clothes I purchased for the Christmas last year, and now I have nothing,” he said.

Daniel said he and his family have been suffering because he does not have any food to give them due to the fire, which destroyed everything he had.

“I have a wife and three kids, but I do not know what to give them and my shop is the only source of our income for us,” he added.

Bith Abraham, the spokesperson of South Sudan National Civil Defense Service, admitted that they are not doing enough to respond to fires across the country.

“Actually, citizens may be right to blame us because our response is not enough due to inadequate equipment. In other states, we are not responding. We only respond in Juba, where we have only two fire trucks, and in other states, we do not have (any fire trucks) except in Western Bahr El Ghazal and Eastern Equatoria states. These are where we have fire trucks, but they are in the capitals of the states, not even at the county level,” Abraham said.

“There is no excellent response on our side.”

He said they had a plan to equip their fire department in order to provide a timely response whenever there is a fire.

“We presented our plans to South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir Mayardit and they were approved by him and sent to the Finance Ministry for purchasing equipment for firefighting and also for disaster management equipment.

“Let our citizens be vigilant. In a short period of time, we will be able to deliver services to the maximum level they want all over the country,” Abraham added.

According to the 2011 Constitution, as amended, the Fire Brigade Service is tasked with preventing fires and disasters and protecting the people of South Sudan and their property.

The revitalized peace agreement also expects the new unity government to improve the Fire Brigade.

Pascal Ladu Mathias, director of the Civil Defense Service in Central Equatoria state, decried the logistical problems that make it difficult to prevent and contain fire outbreaks.

“We have limited resources. Most of the trucks we have are broken down.”

In December last year, at least 62 shops and 108 kiosks were destroyed by fire at the Custom in Juba, which caused over 100 million South Sudanese pounds ($768,000) worth of damage, according to the city council.

The busy market caught fire in the evening when most traders had closed their shops.

The traders were left shocked, as most of them did not know what to do after their shops were razed.

During the outbreak of the fire in the Gudele market last year, South Sudan’s Police Inspector General Majak Akech was quoted by some media outlets as saying that the government limited resources to oversee the sector.

“You should also consider our situation. Our ability is limited and the city is big. Incidents may happen in different places at the same time,” he said.

“We have limited resources, and we want our citizens to consider this. The government has a lot of obligations – peace implementation, the paying of civil servants among others. We have numerous challenges in the government.”

In February, a Juba-based fuel company’s truck burst into flames and was destroyed.

The incident happened in Lologo on the outskirts of Juba.

Abdulsukut Muhammad, the director of Sebbele Company Limited, said the firm lost about between $30,000 to $40,000 in the incident.

He said the fire broke out as they were pumping fuel into one of the trucks that were destined for the state.

Deng Simon, a Juba resident, called on the country’s leaders to reform the fire department and set up fire stations in all areas of Juba.

“The Interior Ministry should have capable officials, people who can deliver service. Why do we continue to lose lives and properties because of fire outbreaks all the time? We are suffering. Bring for us people who can deliver service to the common citizens,” he said.

The Civil Defense Service in Juba told Anadolu Agency they have recorded more than 10 fire incidents from January 2021 to February 2022.