South Sudan: Early Rains Affect Development

UNCLAS KHARTOUM 000859 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON PREF SOCI PINR SU SUBJECT: South Sudan: Early Rains Affect Development Plans ¶1. The rainy season in Central Equatoria began in early March, six weeks earlier than expected, altering a variety of development and humanitarian assistance plans. It has also raised fears that the acute watery diarrhea outbreak, largely contained in Juba and the rest of Equatoria, may again spread out of control. ¶2. Problems that have already started to materialize due to the early rains: -- Returns are now more difficult for refugees and IDPs. Many are now even more anxious to get back to begin cultivating crops. -- Travel along the important Juba-Yei trade route is difficult. As the rainy season continues, many of the other roads in Equatoria will be closed for extended periods. -- SPLA soldiers, housed in tents next to the John Garang Memorial and at the outskirts of town, are amplifying their demands to be moved into the barracks with the SAF. -- A variety of construction projects, which were working feverishly to be finished before the expected start of the rainy season in late April or early May, are now facing difficulties. This includes road repairs in and around Juba, and upgrades and expansions at camps housing international organizations, including renovations at the U.S. Consulate General compound. -- The Lologo IDP camp outside of Juba was not designed for the rainy season. Built largely as a transit station for returnees to Bor, it is already overcrowded due to delays resulting from the acute watery diarrhea outbreak. -- The wet conditions threaten the already tenuous control over the acute watery diarrhea outbreak in Juba other Equatorian towns as heavy rains combine with on-the- ground defecation and the presence of the acute watery diarrhea bacteria. STEINFELD