Among properties damaged are houses, over 4000 hectares of crops, bridges, roads among other infrastructures.
Speaking in a post-Cabinet Meeting press conference yesterday in Kigali, the Minister of Local Governance, Francis Kaboneka said that the government has committed to support families who were affected by disasters.
He said that the government continues to call upon those living in high-risk zones to relocate before they are affected by disasters.
“We encourage Rwandans to relocate, where it is necessary we can use other means; when we do this it doesn’t imply that the government hates its people, it is a way to save their lives,” he said.
Using an example, Kaboneka urged people to understand why leaders ask them to relocate.
“On April 2nd night, ten families in Ngororero District were asked to relocate. The day they relocated, all the houses in the area were destroyed by floods,” he explained.
He said that in Western Province, a total of 500 houses were registered and leaders requested their owners to relocate. Until April 4th, 115 houses of them had been destroyed.
“When leaders come telling you that there is a problem, people should understand, they should implement because it is in their benefits,” he said.
“As leaders who have the responsibilities to protect our people, sometimes, we do it by force so that we save lives,” he noted.
He said that they registered houses which can put lives of people in danger and a number of them were relocated. He said that if the exercise had not been conducted, the problem would have taken another level.
The Minister of Environment, Dr. Vincent Biruta said that the heavy rains continue in North-West and South-West of the country until May 10th. In other parts of the country, he said the rain will be moderate.
“My message is that as the rain continues, we encourage people to follow the weather forecast,” he said.
“More measures are needed to be put in place in partnership with people, but mostly we urge them to abide by leaders’ advice,” he added.
He urged people to put in place measures like water harvesting, planting trees and parents take care of their children so that they will not be victims of the floods.
The Cabinet Meeting on Wednesday discussed strategies and mechanisms that will continue to support those affected by disasters and to fast-track repair of damaged properties.
The Cabinet Meeting resolved to strengthen efforts to mitigate natural disasters in the long term with special emphasis on environmental protection, infrastructure development and maintenance, organized settlement as well as improved agriculture practices.
According to MIDIMAR, among the disasters that claimed many lives include thunderstorm which claimed 36 and landslides which claimed 42.
Leave a Reply