After the Gatumba area was invaded by floods caused by the overflow of the Rusizi II River coupled with the rise in the waters of Lake Tanganyika and the inhabitants were ordered to empty the premises, some of them began to return home. Life is gradually normalizing in some neighborhoods despite so many disappointments. Details in this issue

There is no longer stagnant water in most neighborhoods in the Gatumba zone, notes the Burundi Eco reporter on Monday, June 7, 2021. The neighborhoods that are still under water are Mushasa I and II as well as Gaharawe. Residents are starting to return home. Most of them are already taking care of their daily activities. All along the Chaussée d'Uvira, shops have reopened their doors. There are women and men trading in fruits, charcoal, spare parts, foodstuffs, etc. Some restaurants and cabarets are also operational. Around 12 p.m., some residents were sharing a drink. They also ate kebabs.

Others who have the means were in the process of rehabilitating their homes. A 60-year-old woman who spoke to Burundi Eco said that life is beginning to normalize as before. Her name is Roda Ndabarinze. She has been back in her neighborhood for a week. She indicates that she decided to return home, as the water level of the Rusizi II River, which has invaded her neighborhood in recent days, has dropped. Since life is difficult in the sites reserved for disaster victims, this woman in her sixties notes that she cannot bear these conditions.

Residents facing some challenges

However, since her family returned to their home in the Kinyinya I neighborhood, Ndabarinze has hinted that they are having trouble finding food because everything was washed away by the waters. The other major challenge is the lack of toilets. “The water table is very close to the surface. It is less than 1 m away. If you try to dig a small ditch to build a toilet, the water rises and the work stops at full speed so that the area is not overrun by groundwater,” she worries. Until now, we are relieving ourselves in nature while waiting for the construction of latrines to be possible in the coming days, she continues. These inhabitants therefore fear being attacked by diseases from dirty hands.

For other residents, finding a place to stay is not easy, as their homes have collapsed following the recent floods caused by the overflowing Rusizi II River. They live in houses built in tents while waiting for their houses to be rebuilt. They ask the State and other benefactors to give them food so that they do not starve.

The construction of protective dikes, an emergency

Moreover, according to Charles Mukwege, a retiree living in the Kinyinya I district, a lasting solution must be found to control the floods in Gatumba. For this problem to be definitively solved, the construction of protective dikes all around the banks of this river is an emergency, underlines Mukwege.

Jacqueline Bukuru living in the same neighborhood agrees: “We should not waste resources under the pretext that we are helping the victims of Gatumba. These financial and material resources as well as the food that are constantly offered to them do not constitute a sustainable response. What is necessary is to put all these funds together to build protective dikes on the banks of the Rusizi II River in order to tame the overflow of the waters of this tributary of Lake Tanganyika.”

Cleaning the bed of the Rusizi II river, more than a necessity

According to these inhabitants, the bed of this Rusizi II river is full of sand and other alluvium that comes from the surrounding mountains. And, as a result, its depth is shrinking day by day. And, if it rains, these inhabitants inform that it is quite understandable that the waters of this river overflow and invade all the coastal areas. They then suggest that the government and its technical and financial partners mobilize the funds to clean this river as is done for other rivers such as Mutimbuzi, Ntahangwa, Kanyosha, etc. Currently, following these deposits, they indicate that it is easy to cross the Rusizi II River on foot. This shows the extreme urgency of cleaning this river in order to reduce the damage it continues to cause, especially when it rains.

They add that another possible solution is to close the valve located in the Vugizo district, which prevents the waters of the Rusizi I River, which separates the Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi, from continuing their normal course as before.

Note that the government intends to relocate the inhabitants of Gatumba in order to protect them against these recurrent floods. This was announced by Head of State Evariste Ndayishimiye during a raid he carried out at this location on Friday, June 4, 2021. According to the Directorate-General for Civil Protection, the most targeted are the owners of the plots located in the Mushasa I and II districts as well as Gaharawe.