generalspeaking

"Something Must Be Done"

Well, that's about as obtuse and negligent as a responsible government can possibly be. The conclusion is, therefore, that this is not a responsible government. Since it had long been known that ammunition depots and civilian dwellings in close proximity to each other spell eventual potential disaster. Which was precisely what occurred in Brazzaville, Congo Republic.

Head of the local operations for the Mines Advisory Group, an agency working to alleviate the aftermath of conflict, advised, after a horrific blast that killed 180 people, injured another 1,300 and left 5,000 homeless, that a project had been identified to clear out the arms cache (presumably given reasonably high priority) and agreed to proceed with, but somehow had never occurred.

"We've lost absolutely everything ... it's the fault of the government for not taking precautions", one resident who survived the blast moaned, surveying what was left of the military base, and the nearby buildings shattered by the explosion that occurred early on Sunday morning. An electrical fire at the Regiment Blinde arms dump caused the explosion.

These were leftover munitions, permitted to simply sit there in the wake of the 1997 civil war. The blast was so fierce it blasted windows four kilometres away in Kinshasa, capital of Democratic Republic of Congo.

"We shouldn't have been allowed to live so near the camp. We've had no help, no assistance from the government, not even consolation."

Aid agencies, viewing the extent of the destruction, and the thousands made homeless, doubt the government's ability to cope adequately. "The government's response has been blurred and uncoordinated, they really need assistance", according to one human rights representative.

Congo's minister for humanitarian affairs announced his government had set up three camps for the homeless. But the government is struggling to treat the wounded, those who have been severely injured, while at the same time working to recover dead bodies mangled beneath the collapsed buildings.

"There are still bodies in the camp and perhaps also survivors, and for that we really don't have the skills to (get them out). We're looking to the ministry of defence to manage this, because we want very quickly to be able to have numbers of those who have died and those who survived. The families need this, they must know", said Emilienne Raoul.

It was thought by official sources that an electrical short-circuit was the likely start of the disastrous fire triggering those blasts that were felt right across the Congo River. President Denis Sassou-Nguesso has declared that in future the military would be obliged to relocate their barracks outside the capital.

This very same man has in the past made reference to the ammunition depot, claiming that 'something must be done', about the presence adjacent inner-city homes and buildings, to shield the population. Well, 'something happened', and everyone was treated to unexpected fireworks, with small fires continuing to burn, threatening additional explosions.

Labels: Africa, Chaos, Human Fallibility

posted by Pieface @ Wednesday, March 07, 2012