Bujumbura : unsanitary conditions threaten the place that hosted the former small market in the Mutanga-Nord neighborhood

Unsanitary conditions have taken hold in the place that served as a small market that recently caught fire in the Mutanga-Nord neighborhood, in the district of Ntahangwa in the commercial city of Bujumbura. The health of the public going to the place is at stake, indicates a local observer.

INFO SOS Médias Burundi

When you arrive at this place, you are welcomed by a movement of people who come to buy food and others who are looking for cooked food.

Avocado sellers position themselves very close to the pots filled with hot food in the open air.

“Small tables to accommodate customers who come to get something to eat are also set up in the open air and if it rains it is catastrophic”, says a woman who came to do her shopping there.

Some women who sell at this place ask competent authorities to develop this place as soon as possible because if this situation continues, the health of those who frequent this place depends on it.

An improvised outdoor restaurant at the old small market in the Mutanga-Nord neighborhood, November 2024 (SOS Médias Burundi)

A resident who lives very close to the place says she is very concerned about this unsanitary situation.

She gives the example of women who, due to a lack of stands, place their goods on the ground.

“You see that now the water shortage in our neighborhood has become commonplace, imagine that we don’t even have enough water to wash these vegetables that are spread out on the ground,” she laments.

Vendors who have stopped their activities say they are waiting for the place to be redeveloped before returning to re-set up their businesses.

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Goods displayed next to a gutter at the old small market in the Mutanga-Nord neighborhood, November 2024 (SOS Médias Burundi)