The Burundian government has begun distributing food to at least 9,000 people displaced by floods in the northwestern province of Bujumbura Rural.
The director-general in the Ministry of National Solidarity, Joseph Ndayisenga, said the distribution started on Wednesday with 24 metric tonnes of beans and 49mt of maize flour and would continue in coming days.
Most of the displaced were residents of Gatumba in Mutimbuzi in Bujumbura Rural Province. Those who received aid were residents of Mushasha I and II locations, the areas most affected by the floodwaters after heavy rains.
To prevent outbreaks of waterborne diseases, the Burundi Red Cross Society has continued disinfecting areas where the rains destroyed pit latrines. The national water and electricity utility, Regideso, was supplying clean water to Mutimbuzi residents in a bid to curb cases of diarrhoea.
Besides pleas for food, the displaced residents have also appealed for tents, blankets and clothes, saying the vulnerable, including children, were at risk of catching pneumonia.
A spot-check by local leaders in Mutimbuzi found that the heavy rains, which pounded the area on Sunday, had left 9,817 residents destitute.
n Tuesday, the government conducted an assessment of the damage caused by the floodwaters in the provinces of Bujumbura Rural, Kayanza, Bururi, Ruyigi, Rutana, Ngozi, Kirundo, Muyinga Cibitoke, Gitega and Muramvya.
In a meeting with donors on Wednesday, aimed at securing relief-related support, Interior Minister Evariste Ndayishimiye said the floods had destroyed at least 12,000 homes, 216 latrines and 122 classrooms. He said the most affected provinces were Bujumbura Rural, Cibitoke, and Bujumbura city, where 9,902 homes were destroyed.
The floods also damaged infrastructure and crops. Ndayishimiye said at least 6,000 hectares of crops, including maze and beans, were flooded in Bururi, Muyinga, Kayanza and Cibitoke provinces.
Between April and June 2006, heavy rains destroyed thousands of homes and hectares of crops across the country.
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