The chairperson of the South Sudan De-mining Authority told reporters today that at least 18 thousands kilometres have been cleared of land mines in the region.
Jurkuch Barach Jurkuch said that de-mining of trade routes was the major priority since South Sudan depends on food and non-food items mostly imported from neighboring countries.He added that roads connecting major towns within South Sudan were also de-mined enabling people to move from one place to another safely.
Mr. Jurkuch said some of the feeder roads have not been de-mined because resources and manual labor were not enough.
He blamed militias for planting new mines in already de-mined areas.
Mr. Jurkuch noted that fertile agricultural areas, footpaths and water points were also de-mined.
He reveled that over 2,000 accidents related to land mines have been registered so far.