NIMULE ELEPHANTS KILL VILLAGERS
Sad news arrived from Juba / Southern Sudan yesterday when it became known that rogue elephants straying outside the Nimule National Park had reportedly killed at least 3 people including a pregnant woman.
Complaints voiced in Juba to the Directorate for Wildlife were reportedly also not meeting with any significant action, a source citing the chronic shortage of funds in the Ministry of Wildlife Conservation and Tourism and the state government too appears helpless to act to protect people from animals straying outside of the park.
Residents of the Nimule area, which borders Uganda, have also reportedly complained about massive loss of food crops the elephant have been destroying in search of food with no emergency food aid being availed to them by local or central government bodies.
Utilising the park as a tourism resource has also not taken off, leaving nearby residents wondering about the promises made to them when the Southern Sudan first became a semi autonomous region and then independent in July last year, that tourism could change their fortunes, yet tourist visitors remain conspicuously absent and no significant investments have been seen since then to create infrastructure in the park, attract investors and make tourist visits possible. Said a source from Juba: That Ministry has been spending a lot of money on the Nimule Lodge but has nothing much to show for. We think that was a waste and should have been left to an investor to fix up or rebuild that lodge. The site of it is very good but we are lacking laws and regulations and investors want protection for their money. We have a long way to go and wasted a lot of time.
It is understood that no compensation mechanism is in place either to cater for loss of property and lives caused by marauding wildlife in Southern Sudan, where inspite of highly rated parks and attractions tourism remains a low priority for the government in Juba, caused by lack of funds but most important, by lack of vision and understanding. Watch this space.
