CAR residents face water shortages and blackouts: Video
Residents of Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic, are enduring severe hardships as prolonged electricity blackouts and water shortages continue to disrupt daily life.
Many families are forced to wait hours to access water, while businesses dependent on refrigeration face mounting losses.
Jolinette Gaba, a 24-year-old mother, described the dire situation as she struggled to find water for her seven-month-old baby.
"We've been here since midnight to fetch water despite the insecurity in certain areas of our neighborhoods. When we come here, we can stay for hours and hours before we get water to prepare food for our children. If there's no water, we have to stay no matter what time it is. Sometimes we get some around 5 PM. The day before yesterday, I left home at 5 AM and got back around 5 PM without finding any,” she told the AFP.
She also shared the impact on childcare, explaining how she is forced to leave her baby at home to search for water. “If I can't find any water, the baby's clothes may be left for two or three days in a basin of dirty water, often full of germs. How are we supposed to live in these conditions?,” she added.
The crisis is also crippling local businesses. Patrick Kourama, a vendor at the Boyrabe market, explained how the blackouts have led to food spoilage and financial losses.
Kourama said, “Most of our products are frozen, so it's thanks to electricity that we can preserve them to sell to our customers. Products like chicken wings, backs, and thighs need to be fresh. The worst thing is fish like tuna, which spoils very easily without electricity.”
