The government has announced the forced departure of 4,000 households in several municipalities in the Ivorian economic capital. Every year, heavy rains cause a lot of material damage, but above all deaths.
With our correspondent in Abidjan, Sidy Yansane
From Sunday, June 5, the authorities will empty the areas where the risk of flooding, collapses, and landslides are particularly high. The Ministry of Hydraulics, Sanitation and Sanitation which is launching this Sunday a campaign to evict 25,000 people for the next six months.
In the Laurier 9 district of the municipality of Cocody, the first rains are already having consequences. A street separating two blocks now looks like a green and black lake, forcing the bravest pedestrians to walk toe to heel balancing on a low low wall.
The inhabitants are used to these floods in the district, some even claim to have moved and only go there for work and friends.
According to the government, Laurier 9 is one of 54 high-risk areas identified in Abidjan. Minister Bouaké Fofana details that all homes in these areas will be destroyed, then developed to prevent any attempt at resettlement. He also insists that there will be no immediate alternative accommodation.
Joined by RFI, the minister’s office did not specify what the possible support measures will be for the displaced populations, while the Ivorian meteorological company Sodexam was already on orange alert this weekend.