Please can we stop dropping litter. Or the consequences will kill us.

I want to tell you a story about two large cats that prowl our lands, a lion and a cougar. Both were thirsty and the animals arrived at their usual watering hole at the same time. They immediately began to argue about who should satisfy their thirst first. The argument became heated up, and each decided he would rather die than give up the privilege of first to quench his thirst. As they stubbornly confronted each other, their emotions turned to rage.  But their cruel attacks on each other were suddenly interrupted. They both looked up. Circling overhead was a flock of vultures waiting for the loser to fall. Quietly, the two beasts turned and walked away. The thought of being devoured was all they needed to end their quarrel.

Yei town is regarded as one of the cleanest towns around Southern Sudan and following the construction of roads in the town, it is even tidier than it has ever been.

Rubbish pile in Jamiya area of Yei.

But there is one thing annoying about our town.

Careless people have always made piles of rubbish. They drop rubbish right in the middle of the roads without a care. Sometimes they pour their trash on the sides of the roads, despite the efforts of the Payam Youths who try to keep the town clean. These youths sweep around the town every morning. This is the sacrifice that they make in order to maintain cleanness in the area.

Now we are just a few weeks away from receiving rains. As usual these heaps of refuse will absorb water that will make them decompose quickly. There is usually strong smell that emanate from these decomposing garbage piles during rainy seasons. The smell is too strong that one can not stand it.

I talked to a business woman who works in Dar El Salaam market. She told me: “You see Yei town lacks rubbish bins. If only we had these bins at every corner of the town, the town would be the cleanest all over the country. And there would be no smell at all, whether its rainy season or not.”

Dumping the litter in the middle of the roads or along the sides of the roads may not be a big problem. But the issue here is that there is a lack of vehicles to collect the litter for proper disposal. So the garbage ends up decomposing and of course the rains will expedite the decomposing process.

Yei is currently hit by the influx of people coming in from all directions. Returnees like DJ Max's radio piece with Mr Nicola talks about on Sudanvotes.

The population of Yei has dramatically increased from thirty thousand people to about eighty thousand people. This drastic increase in population has come about with many problems. For example, there is severe lack of water and toilet facilities especially in the town, hence poor sanitation. Consequently diseases like cholera and diarrhea claim many lives.

In the past few months the County Authorities have tried to make people to dig and make proper pit latrines, bathing shelters, and meshes to dry utensils on in their homes. The authorities threatened to fine 50 Sudanese Pounds ($25 Dollars) for those that did not respond. We will see what effect this has.

As we come closer to the rainy season, thoughts of how to prevent the outbreak of diseases should be on the minds of everyone, but especially the residents of Yei.