Illegal dump causes fear among Buyenzi residents

Despite the spread of cholera disease in Bujumbura city, illegal dumps are observed in some neighborhoods of Bujumbura city, particularly in Buyenzi. Residents fear to contract cholera.

A pile of various waste in Buyenzi area

A huge pile of various kinds of waste overlooks the 8th Avenue of Buyenzi area of ​​Mukaza commune in central Bujumbura. It is formed on both sides of a ravine crossing this area.

The ravine is sometimes getting blocked because of this waste thrown in it. Local residents admit that they throw garbage into the ravine, saying that the companies in charge of removing garbage from their houses do not work regularly. Agents of those companies can spend more than a month without collecting waste from the households, according to residents of Buyenzi adding that the companies do not collect waste from all houses.

“I throw also the garbage here as those companies do not remove it from the houses of the locality. I do not have a choice. Do you think I can keep the garbage in my house? Besides that, people from elsewhere come to throw waste here, “says a woman in her forties. The fence of her house is erected at one meter from the rubbish dump.

The dump gives off unpleasant odor. Curiously, people conduct their activities normally around it. Less than two meters from the pile of rubbish is erected a wooden restaurant. Two young people are sitting there. They wait for being served food while flies slowly crawl across the restaurant. “We are used to this situation. I do not feel bad smells anymore. I can eat without any problem, “says one of them. He is however aware that he can catch diseases due to lack of hygiene. “We are exposed to cholera especially that the rainy season is approaching,” says the young boy.

Buyenzi residents ask competent authorities to remove that dump and take appropriate measures to ban people from throwing again waste in the ravine.

In June 2019, Thaddée Ndikumana, Minister of Health gave a two-week ultimatum to Bujumbura city administrative authorities to remove all garbage dumps in various neighborhoods of Bujumbura to fight against the spread of cholera.

At a press conference held on 17 September, the deputy doctor in charge of health care at Prince Regent Charles Buyenzi Hospital said 41 patients of cholera were admitted to that hospital.