The Permanent Executive Secretary of the Geomatic Centralization Office, Frédéric Ngendabakana calls on public and private decision-makers to consult the data produced by this office in order to make informed decisions before launching their projects and programs. This call was launched on Tuesday, May 4, 2021 in a conference-debate on Geomatics in Burundi, organized for the media as part of the promotion and popularization of good practices through the use of Geomatics.

Since Geomatics is the computer processing of geographic data obtained by topometry, cartography, cartography, geodesy, photogrammetry, remote sensing, etc., it helps decision-makers and the population, according to Frédéric Ngendabakana, to make good decisions based on reliable data.

During this conference-debate on Geomatics, the Permanent Executive Secretary of the Geomatic Centralization Office specified that this office produces data in all areas related to geolocation, with a technology based on scientific and reliable data, which makes it possible to properly frame and identify, without or with less risk, the places where projects should be put in place without speculation by each other.

Speaking about the applications of Geomatics with supporting examples, the Permanent Executive Secretary of the Office of Geomatic Centralization explained that the capabilities of the geomatic information system tools make it possible to objectively choose a field of various interventions in any sector, whether in agriculture, roads, forests, whether in agriculture, roads, forests, forests, urban planning, land use planning, trade, health, education etc. It was also an opportunity for him. to

specify that the Geomatics is an essential tool for disaster management and early warning. Frédéric Ngendabakana said that Geomatics provides the appropriate tools to understand and communicate the social and physical complexities of disasters, before clarifying that disaster management in Burundi requires basic geospatial data for early warning, planning and emergency response. For this Geomatics expert, modeling phenomena in geographic information systems leads to better understanding and serves as a basis for early warning systems.

He cited the example of the damage observed in recent days on infrastructure built along Lake Tanganyika, adding that these losses would not occur if decision-makers and owners of houses and plots located near Lake Tanganyika had consulted the services of this Office. He explained that thanks to this technology, geomatics experts can calculate how many houses or how many victims will be affected by rising water levels at this or that other level.

For him, Lake Tanganyika is tending to return to the level it reached in 1964. The person in charge of said Office specifies that as of last April 30, the level was already at 776.50m, barely 50cm to reach the level of 1964, which destroyed more than 8,000 houses at that time, a phenomenon that is repeated at a certain period of time. And to urge decision-makers, economic operators and the entire population to always seek information from the Geomatic Centralization Office before undertaking development projects to avoid paying a lot in the event of disasters.

It should be mentioned that the Geomatics Centralization Office, which is now under the responsibility of the Prime Minister's Office, was created in 2013.