A glimmer of hope for the inhabitants of the Mutanga Sud neighborhood. Sanzu Avenue will be restored as well as the stabilization of the banks of the Ntahangwa River. These are the words of the coordinator of the community management of risks and disasters related to climate change in Burundi project Alexis Nimubona during a visit made on Thursday, August 13, 2020 to the Ntahangwa River.

The objective of the visit was to inquire about the state of play of work to stabilize this river and to re-establish Mukarakara Avenue downstream of the Republic Bridge. Alexis Nimubona said that following the limited resources of this project, the ministry responsible for the environment in its responsibilities in collaboration with the administration and technical and financial partners have prioritized this highly strategic Sanzu Avenue to access the Mugoboka district while waiting for other funds to protect the ECOFO Mutanga Sud and Mugoboka district also under threat.

Alexis Nimubona asks the government to plead with donors for funds to stabilize the Ntahangwa River and other rivers in the city of Bujumbura in general.

As for the director general of the national platform for risk prevention and disaster management, police commissioner Antoine Ntemako, he is asking the surrounding population of Sanzu Avenue in Mutanga Sud, who have set up a market in front of the ravine, to destroy the kiosks themselves in a timely manner to facilitate the work of stabilizing the river and restoring the roads in order to free the passage of vehicles and other materials.

As for the status of work downstream of the Pont de la République, Alexis Nimubona said that since 2015, the community risk management project for disasters linked to climate change, with the support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), has begun a major project to stabilize the Ntahangwa River downstream of the Republic Bridge, which was a major threat on the Nyakabiga side at the Jardin Public School where the buildings of this school were. had already collapsed.

This 1st phase concerns the stabilization of the banks of the Ntahangwa River over a length of 314 linear m. According to the project coordinator, the second phase concerns the stabilization of the banks of the Ntahangwa River on the side of South Kigobe by modifying the meander of this river over a length of 350m and the re-establishment of Mukarakara Avenue over a distance of 150m with a 30m setback.

Alexis Nimubona is confident of the profitability of this work because, he says, it is the combined efforts of all stakeholders. However, it requires the involvement of beneficiaries and the administration to plant trees that fix the ground and to avoid any human act that would contribute to the demolition of this hard-won infrastructure.

One of the beneficiaries welcomes the efforts made by the government and technical and financial partners who narrowly saved their homes. According to Valérie Manirakiza, whose house was on the edge of the abyss, warmly thanks the government and informs that the neighbors have thought of setting up an association for the protection of the environment and that as soon as the rains arrive, they will begin to reforest this area set back by the Ntahangwa River, downstream of the Republic Bridge.