April 11, 14 (BOR) The ministry of agriculture and forestry in South Sudan’s Jonglei state has recovered 15 tractors that were looted following the outbreak of violence in South Sudan.

Jonglei state’s minister of agriculture, Mayen Ngor, showing officials the tractors recovered in the capital, Bor, on 11 April 2014 (ST)

State government officials toured the ministry grounds on Friday to inspect the recovered tractors in the capital, Bor.

In a statement to officials, the minister of agriculture, Mayen Ngor, said 15 tractors were recently found scattered in and around Bor after they were looted from the ministry between December 2013 and January 2014.

Some of the recovered tractors were found to be missing parts.

Caretaker governor John Kong Nyuon said the tractors had been intended to assist people with growing and harvesting crops in a bid to boost food security in the state.

Nyuon has expressed disappointment at the theft of the tractors.

“Our people did bad work, more than what the rebels [did]. The state should have benefited a lot from these tractors,” the governor said.

The 15 tractors are the only ones to be recovered so far from the 48 that were stolen by looters, with the remaining 33 believed to be in rebel-controlled areas.

The state government had purchased 18 tractors since late 2012, with another 30 donated by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in collaboration with United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID).

According to the minister, among the 15 tractors four were intended for Pibor county and two for Pochalla, but were never delivered due to the inaccessibility of roads last year.

He said the farmers who managed to use the tractors in Bor county produced 30,000 bags of cereal crops in 2013, ready for sale to NGOs this year.

“These tractors, despite the fact that there were lot of floods, crops were destroyed, these tractors, they did a wonderful job. They increased food production and they improved food security,” said Ngor.

(ST)