South Sudan: All Are Behind the President, the Government and Parliament On Oil Shutdown

No matter whether it will take us months or years before we can go back to pump out the crude beneath our land we people of Republic of South Sudan have overwhelmingly accepted the bold decision of our cabinet under the President, our parliament to shut down our oil production process to prevent thieves and pirates from looting our wealth.

We are also fully committed to support our government in its endeavours to lay down new concrete foundations of our oil production processes. As citizens we are also concerned that all that will be done on our behalf should be done in transparency for the good of every South Sudanese citizen. Previously the Arabs in Khartoum had been highly dishonest in every step related to oil production in the country which had broken into two sovereign nations called Sudan and South Sudan.

For example oil issues were kept as state secrets for the simple reason that the theft of it and the income generated from it was not to be known by South Sudanese and other unprivileged Sudanese. If we can recall, the portfolio of the Ministry of Petroleum was given to Awad Ahmed Al Jaz, the former private secretary of late terrorist Osama Ibn Laden who made sure anyone entering the Ministry buildings on Nile Street was either a Jaili from Al Bashir's tribe or Saigi from Al Jaz and Osman Taha's tribe.

It was said that from the gate-keeper to the minister were members of the two tribes making tribalism in Sudan to be the highest of its kind. It was protection of such strange secrecy that the oil income share of the South was squandered till the time of the theft and piracy in the docks of Port Sudan upon Red Sea. We in the South should do our things in our own ways.

From the terrible experience we had with the devils of the Sudan we should work out ways and means to serve ourselves satisfactorily. For example the Sudan deceived us that there was no need for constructing our refinery (ies) because those in El Obeid and at Al Jaili north of Khartoum would serve us because their production capacities were more than enough.

This had never been the case and we imported refined petroleum products from East Africa thus sometimes we had fuel shortages despite the fact that we are an oil producing country and the price hikes. We must not allow such to happen again. Remember before our independence when our President announced that a refinery would be constructed in Akon, there was barrage of unfavourable comments from various newspapers of Khartoum for even the mass media personnel were against any development in South Sudan.

By refining our petroleum inside South Sudan we will save a lot of money for development and prices of the refined products will be affordable to all citizens. This favourable economic situation can even bring down the costs of vehicles in South Sudan auto market. Construction of refineries in South Sudan will also avail employment opportunities to the young people of South Sudan.

At the present time our roads are in deplorable conditions but as soon as we have the by-products of the petroleum refinery, we shall have enough tar to macadamize our inter-state highways and other feeder roads. There will always be dividends from any positive steps that our government will take on behalf of the citizens of South Sudan. While we persevere during the waiting period for moving ahead with new programmes in our oil industry, all those charged with the national duties of handling this matter should work day and night so that the country can go back to its development course.