Burundi: In Bujumbura, Houses threatened with collapse in the Gihosha area

The residents of the Cari Creek separating the Nyabagere and Winterekwa districts from the Gihosha zone in the urban commune of Ntahangwa fear the collapse of their houses following a ravine dug by this small stream.

Cari is a small creek that takes source in the locality of Gishingano on the hills overlooking the city of Bujumbura. Six years earlier, several residents came to settle around this waterway, which did not cause fear or worry because pedestrians could cross it without any problem. Vehicle owners did not even need a bridge to cross it.

Currently, this creek has already dug a ravine about 6 meters deep, causing landslides every time the rain falls. Several houses are threatened: “It was during the night, we heard a strange noise and all my family had to go out to avoid the catastrophe. It was a part of the plot of land that had just fallen into the ravine. “Explains Nimubona Shabani, one of the riverside residents most threatened by this creek.
          
These inhabitants have always tried to protect their land by putting gabillots or planting reeds to support the edges but to no avail. Some of them even begin to lose some of their constructions. This is the case of a certain Desiré Niyonzima: “The toilet and the shower of my plot were destroyed, it was during the torrential rains that fell during this week. Now we do not know which saint to devote to. ”

On the other side of the Creek Creek, houses already built, others still in construction are observed a few centimeters from its edges, their foundations suspended above the ravine. Still others are threatened by large cracks caused by the landslide. This population is powerless to face this phenomenon and asks the help of the administration.