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CONGO: Government moves to curb food inflation "taking time"

BRAZZAVILLE Tuesday, December 02, 2008 (IRIN) - Government measures aimed at reducing the cost of staple commodities in the Republic of Congo, where salaries have remained unchanged for years, have failed to stem food inflation. Many people have been forced to change their diets, which has had an adverse impact on health."It is getting harder to eat," Ernest Mbou, a local teacher, who heads a family of eight, told IRIN."Each time before going to the market I have to go to the bank," Mbou...

CONGO: Financial crisis threatens timber jobs

BRAZZAVILLE Tuesday, November 25, 2008 (IRIN) - Guy-Blaise Bakala, a timber worker in Pointe-Noire in the south of the Republic of Congo, has been sleeping badly since his bosses first announced they would have to let some workers go because the financial crisis is hitting the key timber sector."Every single day, our bosses tell us that we are not sheltered from unemployment because of what the company is going through," said the 39-year-old, who is married with four children.Bakala fears...

CONGO: Orders to demolish makeshift fuel stations

BRAZZAVILLE Wednesday, September 24, 2008 (IRIN) - The government of the Republic of Congo has ordered the demolition of all unauthorised makeshift petrol stations located in residential areas in a move to prevent risks posed by the unsafe storage of fuel. "We have decided to close these informal fuel stations to preserve life," Charles Alain Obanga, the Secretary General of l'Agence de Regulation de l'Aval Petrolier (ARAP), the national fuel body, told IRIN in the capital Brazzaville. "These...

CONGO: "Irresponsible officials" put patients at risk

BRAZZAVILLE Wednesday, October 01, 2008 (IRIN) - Health officials in some hospitals in Congo are putting patients' lives at risk by engaging in unethical practices, local human rights groups have warned. "The behaviour of such officials, notably their greed and the fraudulent sale of medicines, is a great obstacle to the right to healthcare," Maixent Fortunin Hanimbat, president of the rights group, Forum pour la gouvernance et les droits de l'homme (FGDH), said. "It is inconceivable that...

CONGO: Bibouti - “I work non-stop but never see my salary”

BRAZZAVILLE Wednesday, October 29, 2008 (IRIN) - Congolese authorities may have good reason to keep a wary eye on events in Niger, where an international court this week found the government guilty of failing to protect its citizens from slavery. Fifteen-year-old Bibouti, from the Pool region, is among countless children trafficked domestically and living in servitude. For the past two years she has worked for a family in the capital, Brazzaville, earning a notional monthly salary of 10,000...

CONGO: Heavy rains cause havoc, raise fears of disease outbreaks

BRAZZAVILLE Friday, November 07, 2008 (IRIN) - Days of torrential rain have caused severe damage to the capital of the Republic of Congo and given rise to fears of water-borne disease. “It’s been raining for several days across the country. There is an urgent need to solve hygiene and sanitation problems,” said Minister of Health, Family and Social Affairs Emilienne Raoul. “We already have four cases of cholera in Kindamba district in the Pool region because of the rains,” she said. In...

CONGO: Disease devastates cassava crop, threatens widespread hunger

BRAZZAVILLE Thursday, November 13, 2008 (IRIN) - Cassava is the staple food for most people in the Republic of Congo, but this main source of nourishment is being threatened by a disease that has spread to most areas of the country. "We've been having problems for more than two years and it's getting worse with the mosaic destroying our crops," said Rose Ambeto, who has several cassava fields. The virus, known as cassava mosaic disease (CMD),...

CONGO: Flooding raises health risks

BRAZZAVILLE Wednesday, November 19, 2008 (IRIN) - The torrential rains experienced in Brazzaville every year at this time spread sewage in the streets and sometimes bury houses in sand carried along by the ensuing floods."For several days every time it rains we find ourselves flooded, with all the risks that go with that," said Gervais Itoua, who lives in Mikalou, in the city's sixth arrondissement."We get into a terrible state because we know that the water will be carrying excrement stored...

CONGO: Disease devastates cassava crop, threatens widespread hunger

Cassava is the staple food for most people in the Republic of Congo, but this main source of nourishment is being threatened by a disease that has spread to most areas of the country. "We've been having problems for more than two years and it's getting worse with the mosaic destroying our crops," said Rose Ambeto, who has several cassava fields. The virus, known as cassava mosaic disease (CMD), attacks the leaves of the plant and limits the growth of its roots. It is spread by insects or by...

CONGO: Heavy rains cause havoc, raise fears of disease outbreaks

Days of torrential rain have caused severe damage to the capital of the Republic of Congo and given rise to fears of water-borne disease. “It’s been raining for several days across the country. There is an urgent need to solve hygiene and sanitation problems,” said Minister of Health, Family and Social Affairs Emilienne Raoul. “We already have four cases of cholera in Kindamba district in the Pool region because of the rains,” she said. In northern and eastern parts of Brazzaville, the rains...