Things get from bad to worse at Kamenge Market

This last Sunday night, a heavy rain has caused a lot of damage and taken off some human lives in the northern areas of Bujumbura. The market of Kamenge is among the places which have been more seriously hit. So, sellers cry for help.-Yves Didier Irakoze

Kamenge market full of mud.©Iwacu

At Kamenge market, you are first welcomed by roadblocks that stop cars, motorcycles, bicycles because of work activities that are being undertaken to clean the market. When arrived there, the market is overflowed by the mud; some stands have been broken by rains, others have been penetrated by water and goods have been spoiled. When looking at the second-hand clothes’ store area; you can’t even identify the color of the different clothes because of the mud. Women selling food like cassavas, beans, rice and other corns are trying to dry their goods, but in vain, because a big quantity has been drowned. “We don’t have anything to say. Our goods, what we had to feed our families have been damaged. We even try to clean the market by pouring the mud elsewhere but as far as gutters are plugged or blocked, we fear that the rain could once again bring the waste inside the market,” points out one of the traders found at the market. N.S a vendor of cooking utensils mentions that the situation is very bad in the way even the trucks that come to evacuate the mud requires money for the fuel. “We have to pay 2,000BIF per stand or per stall; we give this contribution but it is very hard because since yesterday we haven’t worked. How can we get money to pay after spending a lot of days without selling anything?” deplores N.S.

Nyabagere River is the source of evils

The heavy rain fills the river excessively. Then, Nyabagere which is located beside Kamenge market overflows it very seriously. It swept everything away: goods, food, clothes, steels, cooking utensils…even stands and stalls were broken into pieces. “I found my oil cans out of the market. What hurts me is that there are people who are not sellers who have taken those cans and gone with them because no one could easily identify their own,” deplores M.A, a vendor of food. Other vendors hardly try to gather boards to reconstruct their stands. Something which is not easy for them because of sadness, discourage as one read their faces. They are also afraid of other health consequences that could occur because of the waste garbage near the market. Sellers call upon humanitarian people or associations, good Samaritans for help because according to them, they can’t handle themselves the situation. “There is a big quantity of mud, we can’t clean it ourselves. So, we need help. We need a truck to evacuate the mud. Cleaning up the streets and gutters is necessary so that we can resume our business,” concludes N.R.