UNITED NATIONS, Jan 07 (APP): Pakistani peacekeepers serving the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) have earned widespread praise for dedicatedly fighting some the worst floods in the country’s Unity State and bringing relief to the affected people, according to a report received in New York.
On January 4, they marked their 100th day of continuous effort to help hundreds of thousands of people whose lives have been disrupted by floods, the report said.
As the state capital Bentiu with its 200,000 residents and their support lifeline — the Rubkona airstrip — were under serious threat, the Pakistani army engineers took on the daunting task of constructing huge flood protection dikes, with hard work ongoing around the clock, deploying heavy equipment and water pumps, it said.
Some 80 kilometers of such earthen embankments, and the draining of the area of some five million liters of water, have also greatly contributed to protecting citizens from outbreaks of Cholera and other water- and airborne diseases, not to mention environmental hazards that would have resulted from a city dump site being flooded.
The UN peacekeepers also assisted humanitarian partners in building ramps to protect other main supply routes in the area, and have been at the disposal and service of local authorities when called upon.
“The engineering forces have pledged to continue to do whatever it takes, for how long it may take, to keep protecting civilian lives and livelihoods,” the report said.
‘Their remarkable dedication and efforts have been duly and deservedly praised by several visiting delegations,” it added.
