Gatumba : the Minister of the Interior opposes the construction of a dike to protect the Rusizi River initiated by inhabitants in collaboration with the diaspora

In a letter to the governor of the province of Bujumbura (western Burundi), the Minister of the Interior recommends that the latter ban any initiative aimed at building a dike on the Rusizi. According to the minister, this is an action that does not fit with the government’s decision to relocate flood victims.

INFO SOS Médias Burundi

In his letter of September 16, 2024, Martin Niteretse indicates that for some time, the officials, the population of Kinyinya village in the Gatumba zone in the province of Bujumbura and some members of the diaspora have started an activity of construction of a dike to protect the Rusizi River upstream of the bridge on the National Road leading to Gatumba.

According to the same letter, this activity supported by some people of the diaspora, natives of Gatumba, is carried out without any formal authorization and a prior environmental impact study.

“This is an action that does not fit with the government’s decision to relocate households affected by the floods,” says the letter.

According to the minister, there is a great risk that the populations already relocated in the Mubimbi district (Bujumbura) will return, which would render the efforts made by the government in vain.

For nearly 5 years, the population of Gatumba has been experiencing incessant displacements due to the frequent flooding of the Rusizi River. They have always advocated for the construction of a protective dike hoping to solve the problem. But the government has always replied that the construction of a dike is not the best solution and that it is rather necessary to relocate the threatened households.

Thus, hundreds of families have joined the Gisagara site, still in the Bujumbura province.

But life in the camp is not easy, most of the displaced people demand to return to their area of ​​origin.

“Residents of Gatumba who have not yet moved to the Mubimbi site are discouraged by the letter of the Minister of the Interior. They think that there is a lack of will on the part of the government which refuses to support the work of protecting threatened localities. They nevertheless welcome the initiatives of the native diaspora of Gatumba who had supported the work to help the residents in the construction of the dike always requested”, says a member of the circle of initiators of the construction of this dike. He asks Minister Niteretse to “review his measure for the good of the occupants of Gatumba”.

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A young man in the middle of a neighborhood submerged by water in Gatumba (SOS Médias Burundi)