BUJUMBURA December 18th (ABP) – The Bujumbura province (west of Burundi) occupies the last place regarding the recent ranking in terms of implementation of the government’s environmental protection program called “Ewe Burundi Urambaye”, this was said on Monday by the Governor of that province, Mrs. Nadine Gacuti, in a meeting held at the headquarters of Kabezi commune for the administrative officials and agents of the Provincial Directorate of Environment, Agriculture and Livestock (DPEAE), from the four communes which were the last. Those communes are Kabezi, Mutambu, Kanyosha and Mubimbi.
The objective of that meeting was to see together what prevented that province from occupying a good place and to decide on strategies so that it would be highly rated during the next evaluation scheduled for late December. It is worth recalling that the works of the environmental Thursday consisted essentially in drawing contour lines on the watersheds and in planting fixing grasses; planting trees on bare hills and protecting sources of drinking water by removing trees with roots consuming a lot of water up to 15 m from the source.
In turn, the administrators and the communal agronomists expressed themselves and the major reasons were advanced, in particularly the works that started in summer and were entrusted to students on vacation, and only small children showed up in all the communes, often without work tools, the low mobilization of the people by the local administrative officials; those who refuse to allow contour lines to pass through their fields, arguing that they dwindle the field; and reluctant people in the removal of stumps.
The provincial director of the Environment, Agriculture and Livestock admitted that the province had the place it deserved because the administrative officials did not play their role in the mobilization of the people.
Mrs. Gacuti recalled that this is not the time to procrastinate but to adopt strategies to achieve net change and so that this province should be rated highly late December.
She recommended that the village leaders should produce a report every Monday on the works carried out in their villages, those who carried them out and their signatures. The administrators must send those reports to the governor’s office on Wednesdays, and the BPEAE technicians must supervise the people by showing where to do those works.
Commissions constituted by the members of the governor’s office and the executives of the Provincial Office of the Environment, Agriculture and Livestock were set up on the site so that they should supervise the communes and give the report to the governor on the activities carried out each week.
