Nyiragongo volcano: "The anticipation system to accommodate the displaced was not developed"

A Congolese family flees the Goma area, under the threat of the Nyiragongo volcano, on May 27, 2021. REUTERS - STRINGER

Text by: Andréane Meslard

36 mins

Tens of thousands of people fled the city of Goma on Thursday and Friday for fear of a new eruption of the Nyiragongo volcano, and following a partial evacuation order.

Guest of RFI's special edition devoted to the situation, this Saturday morning, the Congolese Minister of Higher Education, Muhindo Nzangi, responds to criticism of the authorities' lack of anticipation and the humanitarian response provided.

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On RFI, the displaced people from the city of Goma say that nothing was really planned on their arrival in the various localities of the region.

How do you react to these testimonies?

Muhindo Nzangi:

I myself was there during these three days and I believe that the basic idea was said in these testimonies. There was a terrible stampede, people dispersed in the direction that suited them best. The anticipation device to welcome the displaced, I must admit that it was not developed, which means that the population was not able to benefit from the reception structures that were pre-established. I must admit that.

But we have been on the ground, and the challenge is enormous.

The volcano did not give warning signs as is usually the case.

Before the eruptions, the OVG [Volcanological Observatory of Goma] is always informed two weeks before, which allows the power to prepare to welcome the displaced.

Neither rising temperature nor expanding cracks were observed.

The seismicity was almost normal.

As a result, the OVG was surprised, like everyone else, by the volcanic eruption.

(Special Edition) Evacuation of the city of Goma

A surprise that you point out, but there are still concerns around the humanitarian situation.

Rwandan President Paul Kagame in particular on Friday called for urgent global support in the face of this humanitarian crisis.

We also heard it in our testimonies.

These concerns are justified today.

Do you have something to say about it?

Yes.

As soon as the eruption erupted, the Congolese government dispatched a team of seven ministers.

I was among these ministers.

We went to help the military governor there to manage the situation.

As you know, at that time, it was believed that the eruption had passed and that people should return [to their homes].

So, we focused on the things that were urgent for the needs of the people in the city.

What I can tell you is that the eruption, for example, cut off virtually the entire water supply system, and since 3 / 5ths of the city had no water, the government s 'is harnessed first to reestablish it. There were also power poles that were cut and we set about restoring [them]. And today, the power is 100% operational, the water will be in three to four days.

The road back was cut off.

Myself, I supervised the work for the reopening of this road which would allow the city to be replenished […].

And we also got down to burying the dead - there were 32 of them - and caring for the sick.

Unfortunately for us, the movement of underground lava once again increased, and this neighborhood was in imminent danger.

It took a second operation to evacuate the population which complicated the government's response to help the population.

For the deputy Lamuka of Goma, Jean-Baptiste Muhindo Kasekwa [to listen below], there were alerts all the same.

You told us the opposite earlier, but for him, alerts have been issued.

How come they may not have been heard?

Jean-Baptiste Kasekwa: "The Congolese authorities had completely neglected the alerts"

Three months ago we were both members of Parliament.

And me and the deputy Jean-Baptiste Muhindo Kasekwa, we went to see the Minister of Scientific Research who was concerned by the issue to talk to him about the problems of the OVG which were internal problems, where the agents challenged those responsible.

With Jean-Baptiste Muhindo Kasekwa, we obtained from this minister the appointment of a new committee of the OVG which organized things.

But, despite [what happened], the volcano's monitoring instruments were all plugged in and data tracked all the time.

I would like to tell you that the OVG, on a technical level, was connected to the monitoring of the volcano.

The question is the behavior of the volcano which has not given many warning signs, whether on the Congolese side or the Rwandan side.

As you know, we are monitoring the volcano.

Even the Rwandan side was not able to alert since the volcano was unpredictable.

For the moment, we still do not know exactly what is happening with this possible new eruption.

The populations are still eager to return.

What may be the fears for the next few days, or even the next weeks?

This morning, the OVG announced that the lava, which was flowing at high speed below the city of Goma, therefore on the southern flank of Nyiragongo, was slowing down. This means that it is possible for this lava to dry out and not erupt. But we have to be careful because we are talking about probabilities. If this trend - with the drop in seismicity that we've been seeing for the past two days - goes in the same direction, we believe the eruption crisis may be behind us. And at that time, we organize ourselves in the government to be able to contribute significantly to putting the population back on the road to Goma. If the OVG gives us the signal that the crisis is behind us, we will try to ensure that the population returns to Goma in good conditions,ensure that the response that we are going to give in humanitarian terms is a response that satisfies the interests of the population.

How do you react to what Rachel Bernard ICRC, our antenna, which show the great difficulty coming to help these people, from a humanitarian point of view

precisely 

? Are you ready to take on your role as she asks?

We have taken it on from the start.

We met Rachel Bernard in Goma, we brought together the entire humanitarian community.

But the measures we took together to lead the humanitarian action were disrupted by this second evacuation, which also concerned the personnel who could help us.

So I believe that, very quickly, we are in the process of organizing the coordination.

And with the good news coming from the volcano monitoring office, we believe that very quickly, we will organize things for a return to the city of Goma.

The emergency is to improve sanitary conditions for refugees ...

Rachel Bernard, head of the ICRC regional delegation for the DRC

Charlotte cosset

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