The La Lucha civic movement condemns the chaotic and irresponsible handling of the situation in Goma and disputes the words of Félix Tschisekedi, President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, who considered the situation “serious but under control”. Humanitarian workers who are worried about the precarious situation of the displaced also believe that it could continue to worsen.
During a press conference on Saturday, May 30, the head of state estimated that the situation was “serious but under control”, while the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of people was ordered by the authorities on Thursday due to the risks associated with the outbreak. of Nyiragongo.
Ghislain Muhiwa, a Lucha activist in Goma, disputes these reassuring comments. For him, crisis management of crisis management is first at the level of the Volcanological Observatory of Goma (OVG), but also at the authority level.
“We asked people to evacuate the city, but without support”
60 RD CONGO _SON MORGN La Lucha condemns the handling of disaster victims in Goma
OVG could not predict or monitor the volcano. And secondly, when it comes to crisis management. When she arrived, people were asked to evacuate the city, but without support (…). Today there is still no help (…) There are people who have no protection, who have no food, who are not taken care of. The price of food is rising. They do not have water, and therefore the humanitarian situation is catastrophic, simply because there were no people who could handle it. But we are very scared, because if it continues like this, there will be many people who (…) will have a hard time surviving.
Magali Roudaut, Director of Médecins Sans Frontières, confirms these concerns and describes the living conditions of these displaced people in Sake, a few tens of kilometers west of Goma. The city has really seen a massive influx of people and Magali Roudau in particular fears a cholera epidemic.
“We are very worried that a huge cholera outbreak could happen”
61 DR CONGO _HIS MORNING Médecins Sans Frontières fears a cholera epidemic
“Under control” ? No, we still need a lot of help to keep things under control, especially when we talk about diseases like cholera. because Goma and Saké are endemic areas at the cholera level. Before the arrival of all these populations, there were already cases of cholera, but obviously with the conditions in which people now live. the fact that there is no water, no latrines, obviously we are very worried about a huge cholera outbreak that could happen. If we talk about Goma, Sake, it’s populations that move, and cholera will move with it and can affect a huge area and that’s what’s very dangerous. That is why we are very concerned and demand that the water be supplied in sufficient quantity.
Head of State Félix Tschisekedi clarified that the threat had not been removed. He “strongly recommends not returning to Goma”. The lava is no longer in the crater, but the volcano remains active. There is an underground lava flow that can occur at any time in the city, “he explained, while many displaced people are tempted to return to the city due to their precarious situation.
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