Sudan’s reconstruction plan for Jebel Marra takes shape

Sudan's second Vice-President Hasabo Abdelrahman is planning roads and a communication network in Guldo, until recently situated in a rebel stronghold in Darfur's Jebel Marra. Meanwhile thousands of displaced people have applied to the family reintegration project of the North Darfur state government.

The state government of North Darfur has distributed determination forms to Abu Shouk camp for displaced people, in order to document their resettlement and reintegration for the reintegration programme.

“This enables the displaced people to enjoy all the rights of citizenship and basic services,” the state government declared in a press statement. According to the camp administration, “more than 7,500 displaced people” have applied to the project for family integration.

“The security and stability people enjoy in the state require steps to strengthen and reconsider the camps,” the Deputy Governor of North Darfur and Minister of Livestock, Mohamad Braima Hassabel Nabi, announced in a press conference.

The reintegration programme is in accordance with plans of Hasabo Abdelrahman to end the displacement in Darfur before 2017, by resettling the people who now live in camps or by the voluntary return of displaced people to their home areas. Displaced people in camps around Darfur have repeatedly rejected the plans.

New roads

On Sunday, the second Vice-President visited Guldo in Jebel Marra in Central Darfur to announce the start of the construction of the “strategic road” to the rest of Guldo in the coming year.

Soon after the signing of a peace agreement with prominent defectors of the rebel SLM-AW in the Central Darfur part of Jebel Marra, Abdelrahman announced the reconstruction of the Mershing-Malik-Deribat road. East Jebel Marra has been a stronghold of the armed movement and was the scene of the heavy military offensive against the rebels in early 2016 and preceding years.

Another plan is for a network to link Guldo to the rest of Sudan

On Sunday, Abdelrahman instructed the Ministry of Communications to immediately initiate a communications network to link with the region. The Ministry of Health has been instructed to build a rural hospital so that people can find treatment in Guldo. “There is not a single health centre throughout East Jebel Marra; there are no drugs and no health workers,” a doctor visiting East Jebel Marra told this station earlier this year. 

The second Vice-President also declared to support the educational process in the area with SDG 5 billion ($764,3 million)

Removal of houses

In Khartoum state, the authorities have removed 600 houses of Alamap village east of the Nile area without any warning on Sunday, leaving hundreds of families in the open.

A delegation from the residents of the village has already submitted a memorandum demanding fairness, justice and holding the official accountable.