Complying with water code is must, Environment ministry says

The local administration, in collaboration with the police, have destroyed a hundred pigsties along the bank of the Kanyosha River in the south of the Burundian capital Bujumbura. The Director General of Water and Sanitation say pig breeders have violated the Burundi water code.

A hundred pigsties have been destroyed in southern Bujumbura

In the morning of May 8, 2017, police and soldiers monitored the destruction of hundreds of pigsties along the bank of the Kanyosha River in the southern area of the Burundian capital. Many Kanyosha residents were present at the scene. Some breeders had hired cars to transport their pigs. They did not want to tell journalists where they were to bring them. Other breeders came to pick up the remains of the boards that were used to build the pigsties. “The Environment ministry had issued an ultimatum to destroy pig farms until May 7th. We had requested the extension of time to prepare a place where we should bring our pigs but to no avail. I do not know yet where I shall take them, “said a Musaga resident, concerned about the administrative measure.

For a young mother and victim of the measure, it is a great loss for pig breeders.

“People must learn to obey the law”

According to Emmanuel Ndorimana, Director of Water and Sanitation at the Ministry of Environment, the water code promulgated on 26 March 2012 stipulates that it is strictly forbidden to pollute water.

“These people who were engaged in pigs breeding along the bank of the Kanyosha River had violated the current water code. The droppings of these pigs go directly to the river , thus causing its pollution,” says Ndorimana.

He adds that the very water code stipulates that it is forbidden to conduct any activity on less than 25 m from the rivers crossing Bujumbura City.

In order to better protect the rivers threatened by pollution and uncontrolled exploitation in Bujumbura City, committees composed of local administrators and security agents have been set up on the Ntahangwa, Kanyosha and Muha rivers.
“These pig farms were destroyed under the orders of these committee members,” Ndorimana says.

He calls on the population to be involved in the protection of the environment. “We are all concerned with protecting the environment for our well-being, “Ndorimana says.