JCC calls for the closure of brothels and sex workers’ hangouts in Juba.

The Juba City Chamber of Commerce, Industry, and Agriculture has requested authorities to shut down brothels and sex workers’ hangouts in the city that have turned into criminal hotspots.

Stephen Wani Aquilino, Chairperson of the Juba City Chamber, singled out the Jebel district as one of the most notorious places, populated by prostitutes and gangs accused of stealing and breaking into establishments in the market, in an interview with the press on Monday.

The petition came when Juba City Council Mayor Kalisto Ladu issued an edict and issued directives to landowners to stop from converting residential areas to commercial areas in order to build hotels, lodges, and clubs where prostitutes and gangs coordinated their illegal activities.

“The residential zones are created for habitation, therefore they are meant for people to build their homes and live with their families in the houses,” Kalisto said.

He went on to say, “No one should conceive of establishing a hotel or a lodge anywhere without the authorization of Juba City Council.”

“Because the Juba City Council is in control of all commercial activities,” he said, “any hotel owner should make sure that he or she comes to the Council for approval for every activity that he or she wants to do, particularly transforming residential areas into commercial areas.”

Kalisto is said to have threatened to shut down hotels whose owners allow children and gangs to enter.

According to the chamber’s president, the decision to demolish nightclubs and prostitution centers in Jebel market was made to eliminate all brothels and areas where burglars stole into shops at night.

On Sunday, a gang of criminals broke into seven establishments in Jebel Market and left with goods and unaccounted for cash totaling millions of South Sudanese Pounds.

He asked the Mayor to shut all clubs and prostitution facilities in the Jebel market as soon as possible in order to reduce crime in the area.

“I demand that all prostitution businesses be removed from Juba City Council; they provide as a sanctuary for criminals and gangs that break into shops and do horrific things in Jebel,” Wani continued.

“My message to the Juba City Council is that security is a government responsibility, and right policies are essential for security in Jebel to be successful,” he stated.

He recognized that the Chamber of Commerce did not have a military to protect its members, but claimed it was the responsibility of the national government to do so.

He went on to say that many incidents of theft and robbery had been reported in Jebel market, and that he suspected the perpetrators were miscreants hiding out in the market’s clubs and prostitution establishments.

He stressed that the Chamber, in collaboration with the business community, had done all possible to provide the police (security) with the necessary protective gear, such as torches, gumboots, raincoats, and other items, in order to make their tasks easier.

He said, “We expect the government to provide enough security to entrepreneurs and their investments.”

He urged that no one sleep at the market, arguing that doing so would interfere with the security officers’ work.

He recommended all merchants to be concerned about the security of their establishments and to construct them in such a way that thieves would have easy access to the assets if they attempted to steal them.