Southern Sudan: Tambura Residents Demand

UNCLAS KHARTOUM 000943

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

C O R R E C T E D C O P Y ((PARA 6 MARKINGS))

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV SOCI AID SU
SUBJECT: Southern Sudan: Tambura Residents Demand


Development


1. SUMMARY: The Acting Consul General (A/CG) accompanied
representatives from the Bureau of Population, Refugees
and Migration (PRM) to Tambura, a county seat near the
border of the Central Africa Republic (CAR). This is the
first visit by USG officials to the area since the peace
deal was signed in 2005. During the visit, A/CG met with
both County Commissioner-Designate Paul Matthew, and with
village leaders from around the county. Every local
leader reassured the delegation that Tambura was a
completely safe and secure place for international
organizations to operate, despite reservations from some
NGOs on the ground. The primary concern of the leaders
was development, and several people in separate
conversations demanded concrete houses with tin roofs to
replace their traditional tukuls. End Summary.

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Security Issues
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2. County leaders expressed concern over the recent
evacuation of international organizations following the
attack on the UNMIS compound in Yambio, about 150 km
southeast. The immediate departure of UNHCR, GTZ,
International Medical Corps (IMC),World Vision, and
Medecins Sans Frontieres disrupted refugee returns and
curtailed some basic health services in the community.
Only IMC and World Vision have come back. The County
Commissioner-Designate emphasized that these evacuations
were not necessary.


3. On the other hand, the regional security director for
IMC expressed reservations about the security situation.
He told A/CG that he believes it is not a question of
"if" the LRA will attack, but "when." The LRA is
reportedly operating in northeastern Congo, relatively
far from Tambura, but the security director said that he
has heard stories of LRA movements in the area.


4. The security director does not think he can properly
secure the IMC operations in the district, but IMC has
made the decision to do the best it can. Because the UN
and the local government have failed to establish or
approve a proper radio network, IMC has just purchased
sets of Motorola Toys-R-Us type walkie-talkies to
facilitate internal communication. As for contacting
local authorities if they get attacked, the security
director explained that the Commissioner-Designate has
the only Thuraya in the government, and the local SPLA
security forces have no communications whatsoever.


5. Even if the SPLA could be notified, the security
director doubted there would be an effective response.
Following the attacks in Yambio, additional security was
requested for Tambura but has failed to materialize.
According to the security director, the local Zande
population believes that the Dinka-led SPLA does not put
a priority on their safety. Ethnic fights between Dinka
and Zande are common in the area.

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Development NOW!
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6. Most of the conversations with local leaders revolved
around a demand for immediate development. The villagers
complained that due to the heavy rains in Western
Equatoria, their tukuls require extensive maintenance
every year and must be re-roofed every two years. They
asked the donor community for help in building concrete
houses with tin roofs and pointed out that all the local
NGOs had built or renovated solid houses for themselves.

STEINFELD