The local administration in Rumbek has reportedly started tearing down buildings built on government property, according to Rumbek Town Council Mayor Peter Maliap Chieny.
According to Maliap, the exercise is a continuation of work that was started last year but was put on hold because of the rising insecurity issues that had already taken over the region.
Earlier this week, some locals accused Rumbek’s municipal authorities of razing homes without prior warning to the demolition exercise.
Ayen Makur Kulang, a businesswoman whose home was demolished, claims that the Rumbek local government gave her the land on which she built.
She says that all certified official paperwork from Lake’s state, local government, and legal advocacy firm were present on the property.
“The original documents from the Lake state Government to confirm my ownership and evidence that the land belongs to me are available,” Kulang explains.
Ayen Makur alleges that Rin Tueny Mabor, the governor of Lakes state, threatened her over the phone in regard to the land dispute.
Nonetheless, the town mayor claims that the local government has informed all illegal land occupants and requested that they leave the state buildings, including Rumbek Secondary.
According to Maliap Chieny, a delegation from the education authorities visited them together with a team of engineers from Juba to demarcate Rumbek secondary and build it.
He claims that the visit by the education authorities was made in order to ensure that the entire Rumbek secondary campus was cleared out in order to facilitate the building of wall fencing and other developmental projects.
“A delegation came from Juba with Engineers to demarcate all the dimensions of Rumbek Secondary school with the aim to develop and erect a concrete fence,” the Mayor explains.
According to Maliap, it is a mistake if somebody received a piece of land near Rumbek Senior Secondary from any government official because the land is the property of the school.
The Mayor claims that because of the widespread insecurity at the time, individuals were relocated and settled near the school property.
“Those who settle there [school], they settled because of the rampant insecurity or the sectional fight which going on before but since Rin Tueny became the governor, the security in the Lakes state has stabilized,” Chieny says.
The town Mayor adds the demolition exercise being carried out by the local authorities does not target anyone as claimed by some residents.
He urges that people who have settled on government property obey the directives of local authority and evacuate the government lands so that development can proceed.
The mayor says, “We are not targeting anyone but we are asking them to evacuate the government areas, government is now embarking on development.”
He further says that any demolished building or home that was built on school property will not be compensated by the local authorities.
Maliap points out that, those entitled to compensation are people who are allotted lands outside the government lands and have official documents from the local government.
The Rumbek municipal authorities recently started the destruction of buildings built on the premises of the Rumbek secondary school; an operation that had previously been put on hold owing to insecurity.