In partnership with the Central Equatoria State government, the Eritrean community in Juba launched a cleaning campaign funded to the tune of $50,000 as an independence package for the citizens.

Addressing the media during the launch of the cleanup campaign on Saturday in Custom Market, Yohannes Teklemicael, Eritrean Ambassador to South Sudan, said the Eritrean community would continue to support South Sudanese in various ways as they mark the day of freedom.

He said the cleanup campaign at Custom Market was one of Eritrea’s contributions toward a clean Juba.  

“On this occasion of independence, we remembered the martyrs of this sisterly country, the South Sudanese and Eritrean martyrs, by launching a cleanness campaign for Juba,” Yohannes said.

He added that a campaign of this kind is usually organized by the Eritrean community every year, and it entails cleaning marketplaces to support the government in its policy of keeping Juba clean.

“We usually do it yearly; we usually organize it every day before the independence of South Sudan,” he said.

Amare Gebreab, the leader of the Eritrean community in South Sudan, said that regardless of economic hardship, the Eritrean community injected $50,000 to clear the accumulated garbage in Custom Market.

“The cost is very high; we have injected more than $50,000 into this cleanup campaign in the market,” Amare said.

He added that the community and the state have organized more than 500 people to clean up the market and also hired trucks to collect the garbage.

The Governor of Central Equatorial, Emanuel Adil, appealed to the citizens to take the slogan “Keep Juba City Clean” as everyone’s responsibility.

“This campaign means everybody should manage waste right from the house,” he said.

He added that the campaign will be a serious one that the government is putting in place to fight one of the phenomena affecting people in Juba, which is littering and managing waste and garbage.