The Naam River dredging project and the plans to resume the construction of the Jonglei Canal have sparked controversy, with citizens crying for a feasibility study.
Public calls for the government stops the plan arguing that it could cause environmental damage.
On Friday, experts, academia and public held a consultative forum at the University of juba over the matter.
International and national experts asked the government to give room for a scientific feasibility study on the impacts of dredging of rivers as well as the resumption of the Jonglei Canal.
Professor Milton Melingasuk highlighted the ecological disasters that result from interfering with wetland and natural resources.
He said the negative impact of dredging can be dangerous in 20-30 years and cautioned the negative consequence the county will face if the project is implemented.
Associate Professor of History at the University of Juba, Dr. Yoasa Wawa, also disagreed with dredging plans. He said the Nile River and its water benefit cattle herders, farmers, and fisher mongers. “”It is life, it is a gift from God, and it is everything to our people,”” he said.
He argued that the River Nile is also a potential source of tourism that can earn the country much-needed foreign cash and enhance bilateral relations.
The experts explained that Jonglei Canal was a project between Sudan and Egypt governments without considering the Southerners’Southerners’ interest and should not be repeated.
Vice-Chancellor of Juba University, Prof. John Akech wondered; if the dredging of rivers and resumption of the Jonglei Canal is a project in the interest of South Sudanese.
He said Sudd wetland is a complex ecosystem science, and scientists have yet to understand the state clearly and shouldn’t be tampered with it.
Akech stated that water navigation and agricultural activities and also be used for industrialization.
Last week top government officials said the dredging is a decision of the cabinet, and nobody should be singled out as the project lead. This came following the death of Hon. Manawa Peter Gatkuoth, Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation.
The water and irrigation ministries of Egypt and South Sudan agreed to undertake joint projects on the Nile in 2020. Earlier this summer, in what many see as a prelude to the canal, they announced plans for massive dredging operations in the Sudd to relieve flooding.