♦ News you might have missed this week ♦

A compact weekly digest of Dabanga Sudan's highlights of the news from Darfur and Sudan

♦ Darfur dengue update: 118 deaths, decline expected

November 17 – 2015 KHARTOUM / EL GENEINA More than 381 people in Darfur have been infected and 118 others have died of dengue fever over the past four months, a health official said on Monday. The Sudanese state’s Health Minister, however, expects a decrease in the number of suspected dengue cases, saying that the region may be declared free of the fever “within three weeks”. Sumia Idris told the National Parliament on Monday that up to Friday 13 November, the state with the highest number of reported cases was West Darfur (268), followed by Central Darfur (53), North Darfur (43), East Darfur (11), and South Darfur (6).

Idris told the Sudanese legislators that the dengue fever has no specific medical treatment so far. “But efforts are focused on the preventive measures to combat the transmission of the disease.”

The Health Minister in West Darfur has already attributed a decrease in the number of reported infections to an intensive spraying campaign against mosquitoes, the vectors of the fever. There is, however, a high mortality rate, in particular among children, the director of the state’s epidemiology department, Abdelbagi Yousef Ibrahim, told Radio Dabanga on Thursday.

President Omar Al Bashir has directed to provide the needed services through the comprehensive health coverage, said the federal Minister of Health, Bahar Idris Abu Garda, after a meeting on Monday. Recently Abu Garda blamed the local administration in Darfur state governments for not taking necessary precautions to combat the spread of mosquitoes. He requested a clarification on the outbreak of dengue in all Darfur states.

Last week, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that dengue fever is endemic in many states, including Red Sea, Kassala, Gedaref, and South Kordofan.

♦ Waste dumped in West Kordofan – experts warn of health hazard

November 17 – 2015 KHARTOUM Experts in Sudan have confirmed the large-scale dumping of toxic waste in the country. Besides the reported disposal of nuclear waste in Northern State, an environmental conservation society received information that toxic waste is buried near oilfields in West Kordofan.

The former president of the Sudanese Environment Conservation Society (SECS), Dr Muawia Shaddad, claims that a large quantity of waste in Sudan has been kept in certain “vulnerable areas” where it could pose a public health risk to the local population. Shaddad told Radio Dabanga in an interview today that he received the intelligence from the Sudan Atomic Energy Commission (SAEC) and other sources. Earlier this year, the SAEC discovered that the radioactive containers in six oil-rich areas in West Kordofan state are unregistered. The former conservation society director stressed that the import of un-cleared goods is “a sign of corruption by authorities”.

In Sudan's Northern State, dozens of containers that reportedly carry nuclear waste were brought from China to Sudan during the construction of the Merowe Dam, according to the former director of the SAEC in Sudan, Mohamed Siddig. He said at a conference in Khartoum last Tuesday that 40 containers were buried in the desert not far from the Merowe Dam construction site. Another 20 containers were disposed of in the desert. He did not mention the date the waste was dumped, however China worked on the dam between 2004 and 2009. “The Sudanese authorities allowed the import of the waste without inspection,” Siddig said.

On Sunday, the spokesman for the caucus of the independent MPs, Mubarak El Nur, called for an immediate investigation into the alleged crime. The director of the governmental Dams Implementation Unit has strongly denied the “presence of containers with chemicals or harmful substances to Sudan from any other country”.

Eight other news highlights:

Five eastern Sudanese kidnapped by Ethiopian gunmen

November 16 – 2015 BASANDA Ethiopian gunmen kidnapped five people in eastern Sudan’s El Gedaref state on Sunday. The chairman of the legislative council of Basanda locality told Radio Dabanga that five herders and farmers were abducted…

Sudan’s Nubians speak out against more dams

November 16 – 2015 NORTHERN STATE / KHARTOUM The Popular Committee Against the Kajbar Dam has accused the Sudanese government of seeking to exterminate the Nubian people and their civilization. The residents of Northern State’s El Birgeeg locality…

Seven Darfur students held incommunicado

November 15 – 2015 KHARTOUM Security agents detained seven Darfuri students in Khartoum on Saturday, and took them to an unknown destination. 11 students have been summoned by an investigation commission of the Holy Koran University in Omdurman…

Child dies of food poisoning in South Darfur

November 13 – 2015 GIREIDA A child in Gireida, South Darfur, died of food poisoning on Thursday while others still suffer from the poisoning. Expired milk that was distributed to the schools is believed to be the cause. The 10-year-old Abdelwahid Abakr Abu Shanab…

Kidnappers release Ukrainian pilot, translator in Darfur

November 13 – 2015 ZALINGEI The Sudanese military forced the release of an Ukrainian pilot and his Sudanese interpreter who were kidnapped last month by gunmen in Kereinik locality, West Darfur, on Thursday morning. None of the kidnappers were arrested…

NISS pulls plug on radio show, 'restricts Sudan's media'

November 13 – 2015 KHARTOUM / BANJUL The security authorities stopped a Sudanese radio programme that discussed corruption and nepotism in the country. Human rights and peace studies institutes have expressed their concern about the growing use of…

Darfur: Militiamen rape, terrorise Jebel Marra residents

November 12 – 2015 DALI / EAST JEBEL MARRA Two women were raped and farmers abused near villages in East Jebel Marra, in attacks by militiamen that they have continued for three weeks. They also stole livestock and food from the victims…

Sudan imports Asian sugar to export tax-free to Europe

November 12 – 2015 KHARTOUM Sudan has started drastically to increase the import of white sugar, according to Indian business reports. At the same time Sudan started to export larger amounts of sugar to the European Union. Sudan almost doubled the import…

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