Flood relief efforts going "according to plan" in Kisangani

Flood relief efforts in the city of Kisangani, northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are proceeding "according to plan", the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported on Monday.

Heavy rains in Kisangani at the end of September and early October caused havoc in Mangobo Commune, near the Simi-Simi airport. Several dozen mud houses were destroyed, with others sustaining major damage, and about 600 people were left homeless.

OCHA said the neighbourhood had no drainage system, resulting in flooding, despite the fact that rainfall was nowhere close to the amount that had in the past caused major flooding in Kisangani, such as in December 1997.

OCHA’s liaison officer in Kisangani, Jean-Bosco Mofiling, said residents were still trying to build channels to evacuate stagnant water with the support of the implementing partner, FOLECO [Federation des ONG Laiques a Vocation Economique du Congo].

"IDPs [internally displaced persons] continue to stay with host families in safe area around the site. We are trying to discuss with authorities to identify a relocation site in town," he said.

Mofiling reported that so far, 17 mt of food including corn flour, beans, vegetable oil and salt had been provided by the UN World Food Programme; 550 blankets, chlorine and digging materials had been provided by the UN Children's Fund; and hoes and wheelbarrows had been provided by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation.

Local implementing partners included FOLECO, the local chapter of the Congolese Red Cross, and a local crisis committee established by the displaced residents, Mofiling added.

For their part, the International Committee of the Red Cross was chlorinating water springs and wells and planned to install a "major water provision source" outside the flood plain, while UN-HABITAT was mobilising local materials for building new homes, Mofiling said.

The overall operation was being coordinated by OCHA and the humanitarian section of MONUC, the UN peacekeeping mission in the DRC.

Meanwhile, efforts continue to rehabilitate the Tshopo hydroelectric plant, Kisangani's main source of power, following a major breakdown on 28 September, which left the city without power and running water for several days. According to OCHA, some 60 mt of material were currently en route from the capital, Kinshasa, to Kisangani, via a barge navigating the Congo River. With financial and engineering personnel support from Belgium, the complete rehabilitation of one of Tshopo's damaged turbines is expected to take between nine to 12 months.

These recent troubles in Kisangani have prompted the reactivation of a provincial crisis committee, which had been defunct since the last major flooding crisis subsided in 1998. It was agreed the newly formed committee would henceforth convene once per month, with the next meeting scheduled for 3 November at the governor's office in the city.