MUYINGA September 28th (ABP) – Fishing activities on Lake Rweru that had been suspended for more than two weeks could resume soon after the establishment of a new joint commission to monitor fishing and ensure security. This was announced by the governors of the Kirundo and Muyinga provinces (north and north-east of Burundi), during a joint security meeting held at Nzove in Giteranyi commune.
The new joint commission deemed a precondition for the resumption of fishing, will be composed of 20 people, including ten people for the Busoni commune (Kirundo) and Giteranyi (Muyinga). The members of that commission will come from the association of fishermen, the administration and the police, a check by ABP revealed.
The members of the commission will have a notebook of responsibility to monitor that the fishing takes place according to the standards. Also, it will watch over security. It was recalled that the suspension of fishing activities was the result of the dispute between fishermen from the Busoni and Giteranyi communes in Rweru waters at the night of September 7th, which resulted in the death of two fishermen from the Busoni commune. According to various officials, the incident of the 7th September was the result of the non-respect for the law. “How a group of civilians can arrogate themselves the right to patrol the lake, make seizures on the site and place of the navy,” Mr. Albert Hatungimana, the administrator of Busoni, wonders.
The commander of the Third Military Division, Col. Elie Nizigiye, criticized the behavior of the fishermen of the two communes who believe themselves the sole owners of the lake. According to him, they even haunted dividing the waters of the lake into two parts. The fishermen must be aware that the waters of Lake Rweru do not only belong to the fishermen of the two communes, but rather to all Burundians. Governor Manirabarusha’s wish is that the new commission be made up of new people to carry out its mission properly.