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Thousands homeless following Burkina Faso floods
Banh, Burkina Faso (AFP) Aug 16, 2007 Thousands of people were homeless and more than a dozen villages remained under water on Thursday in northern Burkina Faso following heavy rains, officials said. Some 6,204 people were without homes in the Loroum province after the August 4 and 5 storms, according to authorities in the province. In the village of Banh, the hardest-hit area, 588 houses were destroyed and 2,995 were homeless. Several hundred people had taken refuge in a school. "The rain started at two in the morning and didn't stop until the next day at eight in the evening," said Issiaka Mande, an elderly man from the village. "I have never seen that." At least 14 villages remained flooded, according to Maxime Bouda, head of the province's emergency rescue committee. "We have lost all of our school's supplies (for the canteen)," said Diadie Tamboura, head of an association of students' parents in Banh. "Nothing could be recovered except a few bottles of oil." Boukary Barry, mayor of the village, said Banh's only mill had been engulfed by water. "The mill allowed us to grind grains and charge batteries for televisions, mobile phones and radio receivers," he said. He added: "The water has now stagnated and the hope of having shelter is increasingly slim. Wells are completely flooded and the problem of potable water is acute." National television reported there was an urgent need for tents, supplies and medicine. "The government will do everything possible to bring the necessary aid to those affected," Pascaline Tamini told the television station. The head doctor for the district of Titao in the area said "we lack everything", including disinfectants, bedding materials and tents. Burkina Faso, a landlocked west African nation, has a population of about 14 million. Related Links Africa News - Resources, Health, Food
Knowledge And Technology Key To Ending Poverty
United Nations (UPI) July 20, 2007Knowledge and technology must be harnessed to achieve the kind of economic growth needed to reduce poverty, says the latest U.N. report on improving conditions in the world's 50 Least Developed Countries. Science, technology and innovation are necessities, not luxuries, said the U.N. Conference on Trade and Development's Least Developed Countries Report 2007. It focuses on how governments of the LDCs and their development partners can promote technological progress. |
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