Committee Set Up to Investigate Nyakuron Customs Market Fire

(JUBA CITY) – Authorities from Juba City Council and the Central Equatoria State government have created an investigation committee to look into the fire that destroyed parts of Nyakuron Customs market on Monday evening. The fire swept through the iron sheet market area shortly after 6:00 in the evening and burned until around 10:00, leaving traders with severe losses worth several million South Sudanese pounds (SSP). With the current rate of USD 1 equal to SSP 7,100, these losses run into hundreds or thousands of US dollars depending on each trader’s stock.

Traders said the fire began suddenly and spread so fast that they could not save their goods. There were no immediate official figures on the total cost of damage at the time of reporting.

Peter, one of the affected traders, said he lost both his shop and cash he had stored inside.
“The fire started around 6:00 PM up to 10:00 PM,” he said. “I and other traders lost everything in our shops. I lost my fully stocked Christmas goods and millions of South Sudanese, and my business is brought to zero by this fire outbreak.”

Another trader, Deng Laurence, expressed his disappointment with the recurring fires in the market. He criticised the city council for not offering enough protection despite collecting regular taxes.
“This market has been burning from time to time and the city council has been collecting taxes from the traders without deploying fire fighters to prevent the fire from consuming the whole market,” he said. “It is shameful and painful that the city council does nothing towards the protection of traders and markets in Juba City.”

Juba City Mayor Christopher Sarafino Wani visited the scene on Tuesday morning. He offered sympathy to those affected and confirmed that the authorities had agreed to form a joint investigation committee.
“We have come here to register our solidarity and assess the impact of the fire outbreak,” he said. “As government, we formed a committee to investigate the incident, and we also came here to witness the impact because we want to prevent incidents from occurring in the future.”

The mayor added that Juba City Council plans to reorganise markets to improve safety and reduce the risk of repeated fires. He asked traders to remain patient as the government works toward long lasting solutions.

Central Equatoria State Governor Emmanuel Adil also toured the damaged market. He expressed sympathy for the traders and said the government had already spoken with security teams and other groups as part of the inquiry.
“We came here and finished meeting with relevant stakeholders including traders and the security organs, and a committee has been formed to investigate the cause,” he said. “We stand in solidarity with the traders who lost their goods and cash in this incident.”

Governor Adil said the assessment would guide future decisions.
“We shall take robust plans to improve markets in Juba City, the reorganisation of the market,” he said. “I call on the traders to remain calm and we shall work hard to avoid similar incidents from occurring in the future.”

National Minister of Trade Atong Kuol Manyang Juuk also visited the scene and described the fire as a serious setback.
“We came here to assess and witness the impact caused by the fire outbreak,” she said. “As a ministry and government we express our sympathy and solidarity with the traders and we also need to ensure that these incidents should not repeat themselves in the future.”

She said her ministry would work with the state leadership to seek investors who can help build permanent and safer market structures in Juba City.
“We need to look for longer term solutions to avoid future losses,” she said. “We need to ensure that there are permanent structures built and call on the relevant government institutions and investors to come and construct permanent market structures.”

For many traders, the loss of goods so close to the Christmas season means major financial hardship. They said they hope the government’s promises of safer, more organised markets will soon be put into action to prevent further tragedies.

Traders Demand Better Protection After Night Market Fire