WESTERN PROVINCE

RUBAVU — The district will soon announce new strategies to prevent cholera outbreak, Martin Habimana, the district officer in charge of Good Governance has said.

He said this recently during a meeting with local leaders called to discuss the hygiene situation and the role of local leaders in improving sanitation standards especially among residents living along River Sebeya. The residents have previously been hit by cholera.

"Residents along River Sebeya in Nyamyumba have been affected by cholera in the last three months due to the dirt driven to the area by water from Mahoko trading centre.

Residents in Kanama and Nyamyumba use contaminated water which has led to cholera outbreak,” he said.

He added that 74 residents have been infected by cholera since the beginning of this year and over twelve have succumbed to the disease.

At the meeting, the district Mayor, Celestin Twagirayezu, said the district will introduce measures to find a lasting solution to cholera outbreaks.

"We shall carry out periodic inspections to evaluate the hygiene of residents along the river to ascertain whether each household has a toilet. Some residents may be depositing their waste in the bush which leads to various diseases including cholera,” he said.

He called upon local leaders at all levels to come up and work hard towards the improvement of hygiene  which he said will provide better living conditions for residents in their respective cells and sectors.

The Mayor explained that the district was working closely with the Ministry of Health to equip the existing health centre in the area with necessary drugs to be able to attend to emergency cases.

Residents along River Sebeya who talked to The New Times said they lack clean tap water in the area.

"Some of us use this running water for household use such as washing and bathing which we think could be the cause of such disease outbreaks,” said Claude Bigirimana.

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