The artists’ square, a reference point on the Victoire roundabout in the commune of Kalamu, is becoming repulsive. All around this public place, represented by two hands gathered in the shape of a fist, and by the statue of the emblematic Congolese musician Luambo Makiadi, lie piles of rubbish, mainly plastic bottles, incinerated there on the roadway, emitting smelly smoke.
Pained by this filth, Jonathan, sitting on his motorbike, protests against the agents responsible for collecting taxes on the land, who do not take care to remove the trash. “All they care about is stopping vehicles. They openly ignore the unsanitary conditions that have reigned for a very long time here in Victoire. Instead of evacuating this dirt, they prefer to burn it right here. See for yourself, it’s still very early in the morning, but look at the dirt. No parking, even though they collected money. We don’t know what to say anymore, especially since they themselves said that the country is already dead,” he says angrily.
For Trésor, a young man waiting for a taxi, the inaction of the authorities in the face of this situation has meant that the people of Kinshasa have become accustomed to it. “Since the authorities cannot find solutions, the people of Kinshasa have become accustomed to the filth. And even when we come to fix it, it only lasts a few hours before returning to the same state. Take plastic bottles for example, they should have a suitable place for disposal. Which is not the case. Everywhere in Kinshasa, even in the city center, they are there, with bags, boxes,” he notes.
Papa Jules can’t believe it. He says it hurts to see the Victoire roundabout become unrecognizable, to the point of being despised by those who have never known it before. “I’m really hurting. This place was the mirror of Kinshasa. The image he gives today can lead those who did not know him before to despise him. It’s quite simply because the authorities are not playing their role sufficiently,” he lamented.
A few meters away, on the left side of Avenue Victoire, just diagonally from the Kalamu municipal house, a mountain of rubbish rises. Opposite the Saint-Joseph church, just one meter from the Transco bus stop, there is a nauseating odor that makes passers-by and students spit. ” Look ! It’s almost opposite the town hall. They see this trash can with this foul smell but do nothing. Me, I simply wonder if our authorities see everything that is happening in the city of Kinshasa,” regrets François Mande, a student at the University of Kinshasa, queuing to enter the transport.
Despite all the initiatives taken, both by the central and provincial government, unsanitary conditions remain an insoluble problem in Kinshasa. “Kinshasa Bopeto”, a concept launched by the current governor of the capital, has not succeeded in curbing this hydra. In April 2022, the President of the Republic, Félix Tshisekedi, inaugurated “Kintoko”, a plastic waste recycling plant located in Limete, Kinshasa. Three years later, this work has still not borne fruit, given the reality on the ground.
External text!
2024-04-04 14:25:31
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