Deputy Director General Jean Bosco Mwaka
Kinshasa, April 8th, 2025(CPA) – In an interview with the press in Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Monday, the deputy director of the Régie de distribution d’eau recommended that the N’djili River should be permanently cleaned out to limit flooding. ‘Environmental management should help us to clear the rivers so that the water from the Ndjili river can flow directly into the Congo river, so that it does not cause damage of the kind caused by the torrential rain of Friday and Saturday,’ said Jean-Bosco Mwaka Indele, deputy director of Regideso. He added that the damage had nothing to do with construction problems. What we have seen is that the cleaning of the N’djili River is not permanent. ‘We were all surprised to see the images from the Lukaya and Lukunga factories, which were completely flooded while we were waiting for the water levels in these factories to drop. We were surprised at 5.00 pm when the N’Djili plant suffered the same fate, even though it had been shut down due to very high turbidity. We were at 4000NTU whereas to treat water you need to be at less than 1000NTU << In 2015, we experienced this case but the water level was not as it is today. We notice that the water level has increased more >>, Mr. Mwaka maintained.
Sixteen municipalities in the city of Kinshasa experiencing water shortages
However, the deputy director of Regideso pointed out that 16 municipalities in the city of Kinshasa that depend on the N’djili plant for their water supply are experiencing water shortages. ‘First of all, we apologize to the population and to most of our subscribers for the inconvenience that has occurred beyond our control. This is a natural disaster’, he has said. The deputy director of the regideso noted that at present the group of motorbike pumps are under water, specifying that it is necessary the water level drops to allow the team of technicians to work and restore the drinking water supply. Mr. Mwaka, however, asked subscribers to calm down, as it would take time to restore operations. ‘We have to wait for the water level to drop and then get back to our machines,’ he said. It should be remembered that two (2) water collection plants are at a standstill, namely the Lukaya and Ndjili plants, as well as the Mitendi (spring) station.