The uncontrolled exploitation of building materials and constructions without respecting the environmental impact of the banks of the Nyabagere River in the Muyaga district in the Gihosha urban area threaten the surrounding inhabitants.

The latter fear the worst in the next rainy season because they say, “if nothing is done on time, the rainy season will wash away everything” because, they specify, cracks are already visible.
Residents living on the banks of the Nyabagere River are sounding the alarm and urging the competent authorities to take protective measures against this threat.

Pamphile Ndaboroheye, head of the branch of the Burundian Office for Environmental Protection (OBPE) in Bujumbura City Hall, speaks of illegal exploitation and demands the immediate end of these activities.

The head of the OBPE branch in Bujumbura City Hall indicated that this threat is due to the unconsciousness of operators and to the lack of respect for the law because he says, “the law on the exploitation of minerals and quarries is clear; it must be applied scrupulously”.

He added that the administrators at the base are aware of the situation but have not been able to stop these activities. He took the opportunity to call on the high-level authorities to intervene so that these works, which expose the population around the Nyabagere River in general and the entire city of Bujumbura in particular, be stopped.

Asked about this, the head of zone Gihosha said that the administration was aware of this situation and promised to crack down on the perpetrators of this illegal exploitation in order to put an end to this practice.