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Juba, 7 August 2008 – The Southern Sudan Police Service (SPSS) in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), has commenced a large scale rehabilitation and construction work program regarding police infrastructure in Southern Sudan.
This is part of the 3-year USD 45 million Police and Prison Support Project that is jointly funded by the Government of Southern Sudan (GoSS), and the Multi Donor Trust Fund (MDTF), of which two thirds comes from the GoSS and one third from the World Bank and other international and bilateral donors. In addition to rehabilitation of infrastructure, the project is aimed at institutional capacity building and training that includes both the Police and Prison Services.
The project is demand-driven and necessitated by the prevailing situation in Southern Sudan which is undergoing rapid transition from war ravaged to post conflict community where the maintaining of law, order and security have become a fundamental issue for the GoSS.
Following the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in 2005, the GoSS is facing the challenge of literally rebuilding from the ground the entire police and prison services.
'22 years of conflict destroyed almost everything in Southern Sudan. The little infrastructure that used to exist is all gone' said Lieutenant General Acuil Tito, Head of Finance and Logistics Department of the Police, in a press statement following the official commencement of construction and rehabilitation works at Buluk Police Training Centre in Juba town; the seat of the Government of Southern Sudan.
The commencement of the project gives the Police Service a new thrust in meeting the requirements of a post conflict community in Southern Sudan. The current police service is an amalgam of the unified police forces of Sudan in the then government controlled areas and Sudan Peoples' Liberation Movement (SPLM) Police. Following the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, the two bodies became one under the Police Service of Southern Sudan.
The Police Service is continuously receiving demobilized soldiers from the rank and file of the Sudan Peoples Liberation Army (SPLA). Recently the Police trained some 2,700 new recruits and demobilized SPLA soldiers. More are yet to be trained with the rehabilitation and construction of more training facilities.
'We have a police force in quantity but less in quality and this is a daunting test. For us to realize our vision of having a secure and safe Southern Sudan for all people, we need to do a lot in the field of training of the demobilized soldiers'
The project is a huge joint undertaking and will take a number of years to complete. According to General Tito 'the Project is supposed to rehabilitate nine State Police Headquarters, 21 County Headquarters and 55 local Payam police stations' adding that 'If our police are not well attended to, then we will not have the rule of law or good governance that we cherish'.
The acting Head of UNDP Office in Juba, Southern Sudan, Mr Shyam Bhurtel, said in a press statement that the plan for the Police Service for 2008 comprises rehabilitation works at six locations and another five new facility projects in the various states. There will also be construction works targeting the Prison Service.
The UNDP Project Manager, Mr Dan Peterson, added that the original project document was designed to rehabilitate only one quarter of the Police and Prison infrastructure required in Southern Sudan and now the expectations have been further reduced due to the significant increase in the price of construction materials and other commodities from the time when the agreement was made. There is also a significant gap in competence between the senior management of the Police and the new recruits and lower ranks, many of whom are ex-combatants and soldiers with little or none experience of police service.
UNDP is the project executing agency with responsibility for the overall coordination, financial management and project oversight. The project is implemented in partnership with the Police and Prison Services in Southern Sudan. The United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) provides technical support to the Police and Prison Services respectively. The United Nations Office of Project Services (UNOPS) has been assigned the task of implementing the lion share of the infrastructure component. The implementation of the various project activities is regularly coordinated between UNDP, UNMIS and UNOPS.
For more information, please contact:
Joseph Tabani, Communications Analyst, joseph.tabani@undp.org or visit UNDP Sudan website at: www.sd.undp.org
