Floods displace over 6,000 people outside Bujumbura

Over 6,000 people have been displaced following flooding of the Mutimbuzi river in the Buterere zone of Bujumbura, the capital of Burundi.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) confirmed to IRIN on Monday that the Mutimbuzi river had overflowed three times in the last two weeks - on 29 and 30 April and then 6 May - causing the destruction of 193 houses in the displaced people's site of Kijange, and a further 42 in its environs. Surrounding fields of rice, maize, green beans, potatoes and other vegetables had also been destroyed.

OCHA said that the flooding had occurred due to a large build-up of debris in the river, coupled with heavy rains. The river had not been cleared since 1988, despite the fact that accumulative build-ups of wood and sticks from surrounding hills needed to be removed every five years. While high levels of water were common to the area during the rainy season, this had been the worst flooding for some years.

The short-term solution would be the construction of a dyke, using bags of sand, OCHA said. This would temporarily protect surrounding houses from flooding, as it was it was impossible to clear the river of debris during the current heavy rains. The longer-term solution would be to straighten the river, which currently has a meandering path, in order to prevent the large build-up of material.

Burundi authorities had committed themselves to supplying the sand for the construction of a dyke, OCHA said, but by Monday afternoon had not yet delivered it. They had also committed themselves to emptying latrines which had overflowed, but had only partially completed the task.

International organisations Medecins sans Frontieres - Belgium, Jesuit Refugee Service, the International Committee of the Red Cross, Cooperation Suisse, the World Food Programme and the UN Children's Fund were assisting the displaced people, OCHA confirmed. A considerable number of them were currently sheltering in the classrooms of a local primary school, while the rest were staying with family or friends.