Remembering a true Public Servant: An Interview with Dr. Toby Maduot Parek – Circa 1981
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Remembering a true Public Servant: Interview with Dr. Toby Maduot – circa 1981
After the signing of the Addis Ababa Agreement in 1972, hundreds of thousands of Southern Sudanese who had fled to neighboring countries began returning home. This required the regional government of Southern Sudan to find suitable accommodations for them. In 1980, Dr. Toby Maduot was appointed Minister of Housing and Public Utilities. In January 1981, the ‘Southern Sudan Magazine’ interviewed him about his work in the ministry. The interview is as follows:
“QUESTION: Can you comment briefly on the new Regional Government Housing Policy and how it will be executed?
ANSWER: The new Regional Policy with regard to housing is directed towards provision of adequate land for residential, commercial, agricultural and industrial purposes. This policy of providing enough land for urban development is also applicable to the district and council headquarters as well. In response to this policy the Regional Ministry of Housing and Public Utilities embarked in 1973 on surveying and planning of Muniki and Lologo low cost housing area. A total number of 3, 785 plots were demarcated and are being allotted to citizens for housing development, with full security of tenure. The same is being done in the other provinces, districts, and councils of the Region. The Policy further facilitates the granting of housing loans to citizens to enable them to build their own dwellings. The Regional Ministry of Housing has also laid down a policy of granting housing in kind. Citizens will be given materials repayable over a long period. They grant minor housing loans in the provinces. The district and the councils are to grant some limited amounts for their personnel. Together with the provision of plots and housing loans, the Regional Ministry of Housing is keen to provide and improve services like water and electricity. The building materials to be loaned to the citizens will be produced by Luri Local Materials Industry which will start operating in the first quarter of 1981.
QUESTION: How has Kuwait’s Aid which was given to the Region in 1977, in the form of Cement been utilized?
ANSWER: Kuwait’s cement poured in, in 1976 as aid to the Regional Government to help in the construction of various buildings. This was handled by the Ministry of Housing and used for its various projects as follows. First, there were messes for government offices; Engineers’ Mess for the Ministry of Housing; an Officials’ Mess for the Juba Ministry of Public Services; a Teachers ’Mess at Juba Senior Secondary School; A doctor’s Mess at the Ministry of Health. Then there was Juba Women’s Union center. Health Centres have been built at Lainya, Mongalla, Tore, Kongor, Opari and Lokotok. Finally, there are hospitals in Yambio and Nimule and a senior secondary school at Loa. The above mentioned are in addition to other maintenance work on government houses in the Southern Region and the construction of other new buildings.
QUESTION: How many government buildings and messes have been built since 1972?
ANSWER: The Regional Ministry of Housing has so far built six messes and many staff houses within Juba and the other provinces of the Region. The Yugoslavia Project was a Regional Government project where the existing Ministries’ complex was built and the residencies for the Ministers and Directors.
QUESTION: What can you say about land distribution in the Southern Region with regard to the public complaint that bribery is sometimes used in the allotments of plots?
ANSWER: Land in the whole country is the property of the government. As land is a valuable property its equitable distribution does not give birth to problems. One major constraint in land distribution the Ministry has experienced over the last eight years has been due to lack of manpower in the Department of Survey in the Regional capital Juba and the Provincial headquarters, and lack of town planners at the Ministry’s headquarters. The fact that the number of applicants for plots has always been in excess of actual plots of land has been due to these obstacles.
The lack of manpower has resulted in numerous complaints from the citizens many of whom think that equity in allocation of land for development has not been the rule. But the fact is that people who have been waiting for a long time are more likely to accept rumors of maladministration. As a result the general public tends to think that there is an element of discrimination in land distribution. This is not true.
With regard to how much land is available for both urban and rural development, the Regional Ministry of Housing has already prepared and distributed a programme of work to all survey offices in the Region. The programme sets out the priority of surveying adequate land to meet the needs of each city, town, and smaller towns. It is expected that from 1981 onwards there will be enough surveyed and planned land for all types of urban and rural development.
The fact is that the Ministry has not received any complaints about discrimination being practiced. No incident of bribery has yet been reported to my office. In realization of the existing pressure on land, the ministry has recommended the extension of the existing boundary of the Regional capital Juba The situation in the other big towns will be studied further.
QUESTION: What are your housing priorities?
ANSWER: The Regional Ministry of Housing gives priorities in allotment of land to the middle and lower income communities of the Region. These communities suffer greater strain as a result of lack of adequate housing facilities. In addition to the provision of land, local building materials to be developed by the local industry under the supervision of the ministry will further make it easier for these communities to erect their houses in as short time as possible. Accommodation facilities for government officials, such as doctors and teachers will be one of our priorities. Water and electricity are also on the priority list.
QUESTION: How far has the policy of self-reliance been implemented in your ministry?
ANSWER: With regard to housing this policy is being adhered to already by the Southern Region community, in that the existing housing facilities are mainly provided through individual labor and effort. However, it has been, and still is the policy of the Ministry to assist the citizens in the provision of infrastructure, water and electricity and to advice on how to construct durable dwellings. The Ministry’s Luri Local Building Material Industry will soon get off the ground at a production rate of 6,000 bricks per hour. The machinery for this factory will be arriving to Juba very soon so that before the next rainy season its products will be used by the people. After establishing this factory in Juba, similar brick laying and producing factories will be established in other provincial headquarters.”
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