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Kinshasa - A sprawling megalopolis with collapsing or non-existent infrastructure and ramshackle transport, the Democratic Republic of Congo capital Kinshasa is a nightmare for those who have to live or work here. With its overcrowding and lack of resources, Kinshasa exemplifies the kinds of problems debated at the Africities summit in Yaounde, Cameroon, where delegates from more than 60 countries have this week been poring over Africa's urban problems. Kinshasa has them all, starting with uncontrolled population growth. To the original inhabitants known as the "teke-humbu" are added the so-called "kinois" from other provinces in this huge country, the size of western Europe minus Scandinavia, and hundreds of millions of refugees from fighting in the northeast. Entire districts exist dimly in the light of paraffin lamps In recent years, the city has also accepted refugees from conflicts in neighbouring countries such as Angola and the Republic of Congo, of which the capital Brazzaville sits across the Congo River from Kinshasa. Local non-government organisations estimate that between seven and eight million people live in Kinshasa, but that or any other figure is only approximate. To the quarters of the original city, with their avenues and scattered high buildings along the banks of the muddy Congo River, have been grafted vast shanty towns of shacks thrown together in totally anarchic fashion, and ramshackle huts made of cardboard and packing materials that the poor rent out to the even poorer. But even for those with the financial means, finding a place to live is not easy. With rents greatly higher than salaries, sharing housing is a necessity, and houses made for five often lodge 15 or more. Tenants must pay their rent on time or risk being thrown out on the streets. And landlords show no mercy, despite many public workers not having been paid for 30 months. There is often no electricity, no running water, no sewers, no transport. The infrastructure that existed 10 years ago - before war broke out in 1998 - is falling apart for lack of maintenance. Entire districts exist dimly in the light of paraffin lamps. One local pastime is that of running a cable from the public electricity system to houses that have been cut off for not keeping up with utility payments. In this way, it only costs about R10 a month to keep the current flowing. The lack of garbage collection means that huge piles of trash accumulate on street corners or on any patch of vacant land - but this does not stop the squatters from coming. The biggest problem for those who have to get around the city is the transport system, or the lack of one to be more accurate. Getting a bus or a collective taxi is a lottery. Long before dawn, on the road to the airport, long queues of pedestrians walk for an hour or more to reach makeshift stops along the routes of unlicensed buses. The buses do not carry passengers into the city itself. They drop passengers off on the outskirts, leaving them to fight for a place in a collective taxi. And when it rains heavily, there is no transport at all. The roads quickly become flooded because of the lack of storm drains. Not only are there no buses - it's impossible also to find newspapers, bread or fresh vegetables. Nearly three-quarters of African city dwellers, or around 187 million people, live in slums, according to the UN. In 1950, less than 15 percent of Africans lived in conurbations against 42 percent today, or 300 million Africans, and many have to cope with "basic services in complete breakdown," Jean-Pierre Elong Mbassi, head of the Municipal Development Partnership (MDP) which is organising Africities 3, has said. - Sapa-AFP |
