Rwandans Alerted of Winter’s Torrential Rainfalls and disasters

The Ministry in charge of Emergency Management (MINEMA) has alerted Rwandans to step forward towards the prevention of disasters that may be caused by heavy rains forecasted to pour down in the country in this winter season.

In the Press conference held in Kigali on this Thursday, The Minister in MINEMA, Germaine Kamayirese shed more light upon the relevance of taking into consideration disaster risk mitigation as everyone’s responsibility.

“To build a disaster resilient community, the population is required to get used to the execution of disaster risk reduction strategies. They need to tightly fix their houses, ensure dredging, restoring new water canals and establishing rain water systems, building houses with song and standard materials and others,” Added the Minister.

Hinging on the seasonal forecast released by IGAD Climate Prediction and Applications Center that predicts torrential rainfalls over equatorial sector of the Great Horn of Africa (GHA) region as well as over the Thousand Hills of Rwanda, the Director General of Rwanda Housing (RHA), Eric Serubibi, incited high-risk zones dwellers to move as the surefire way to avoid the risks.

In Kigali city, RHA, as yet, censuses more than 13 households living in high risk zones only in Gatsata, Nyabugogo, Kimisagara and Jari Sectors.

In the light of the National Consensus of Climate outlook for March to May 2019 rain season, Rwanda Meteorology Agency states that there are“increased risks of normal to abnormal rainfall over the most part of Western and Northern Provinces, City of Kigali and Southern Province (Ruhango, Kamonyi, Muhanga and Nyaruguru districts.”

Last year, disasters claimed the lives of over 200 people leaving other 218 injured. The damages were estimated to cost over Rwf200 billions while their mend had to cost Rwf290 billion.

Dieudonne MANIRAKIZA