Still under the waters, the city of Kinshasa province struggles to recover after this torrential rain fell on Tuesday morning, causing four dead and one wounded, with enormous material damages.
This is what the governor of the city, André Kimbuta told KINSHASATIMES.CD after an extraordinary Council of Ministers, extended to the Mayors and experts.
« We recorded four deaths in the municipality of Barumbu alone. It is still a provisional record. In addition, there is a lady, who is seriously wounded in the Bumbu commune. Given the importance of the damage, I convened an Extraordinary Council of Ministers, extended to the Mayors and experts, » said Governor Andre Kimbuta.
According to the authority of the city, the Extraordinary Council decided to set up a Commission with the task of identifying the human and material damage and the actions to be taken in relation to emergencies due to this heavy rain.
However, said Kimbuta concerning the emergencies: we should « first bury the dead, help the bereaved families, then to cure the rivers Kalamu, Makelele and that of the Gombe which are the basis of all of this, and also intervene in schools and medical centers that have suffered damage and urgently rehabilitate the roads of Kulumba and Pelenda at Masina which are destroyed ».
Other emergencies include the rehabilitation of National No. 1 towards Benseke Cemetery and the road leading to the public dump in Mpasa, which are currently cut off due to the rain. Also, the fight against erosions, which have been active for some time now in the city.
« I ask the population to be careful about this season, which is a period of rains, » he urged, before calling the Kinois not to live along the rivers. He then mentions that all those who built on the gutters, the collectors will be identified and arrested, and promises that all anarchic constructions will be destroyed in the medium term.
The Mettelsat advocates for the setting up of an alert throughout the city. Speaking on the issue, Deputy Managing Director of Mettelsat, Nestor Niangi, pleaded for the establishment of an alert across the city province of Kinshasa. This will inform the population of Kinshasa about the kind of disasters that could happen as a result of a rain.
According to him, this challenge involves a rational management of the rainfall networks of the city of Kinshasa. An initiative that has been taken by the European Union. « There was talk that the management of this network was entrusted to Mettelsat, but until now, nothing is done and nobody knows who runs this network, » he said remorsefully.
However, the Deputy Managing Director of the Mettelsat continues, this network is very important for the management of this kind of situation. « We have spoken of the deaths of men following the floods … Studies have to be carried out to find out the resurgence of this kind of rain, but to manage to do so, one must have the data.
This requires historical data for at least thirty years. Now, on the city of Kinshasa, our network is at the airport and at Binza. So it does not allow us to follow the exact situation of the city of Kinshasa. For this we must strengthen this network of rainfall observation, because the parameters vary the most here in the city of Kinshasa, » he concluded.