Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live Sunday

Rebuilding Is Under Way in Goma, Congo

Aired January 27, 2002 - 17:49   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Well, thousands remain in need of food and aid after the recent volcano eruption in the Congo. Less than week after the eruption, the long road to rebuilding the village of Goma is now under way. CNN's Chris Burns has more from the ravaged town.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS BURNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As the lava from Mt. Nyriagongo stormed into Goma, Vichomo Cleofass (ph) and his family of eight had but minutes to flee their home with the clothes on their backs. Not even time to round up their herd of goats. They perished in the inferno.

Now, Vichomo (ph) wires his front door shut to try to stop looters.

(on camera): Officials say at least 40 percent of Goma was destroyed, and with the lava still summering, there's little chance of reconstruction. Once the lava does cool, residents say they have little or no means to rebuild.

(voice-over): A carpenter, Vichomo (ph) uses the few bricks he has to seal the windows. Putting his house back together now is out of the question without international aid.

"To rebuild is very hard," says Vichomo (ph). "I don't have the energy, the money. It's very difficult."

Vichomo (ph) received a new set of clothes and some toothpaste, and he's hoping to get some more aid for his family while they stay with friends.

Aid officials had to scramble, after the original focus was on refugee camps in neighboring Rwanda, where an estimated 300,000 Goma residents fled. But the Congolese refugees, weary of the Rwandans after years of warfare, returned to Goma once the eruption stopped, despite warnings by the United Nations that it was still too dangerous to go back.

(on camera): This corn meal is some of the first food the U.N. has released, after determining it was safe enough to stay here in Goma. They're also handing out to families plastic sheeting, blankets, soap, oil and other items for families who have lost everything in this eruption.

(voice-over): Aid workers say it's taking time to redeploy from Rwanda. "It was, indeed, frustrating," says Oveillan Marechal (ph) of Solidarite, a French-based group. "But on the other hand, the volcanologists allowed us to return to Goma just two days ago."

And how safe is it now, with continued earthquakes and toxic gases rising from the still smoldering lava flows? Experts say they're watching Mt. Nyriagongo closely. They say they are somewhat concerned about the quakes, but believe a new eruption is unlikely.

At least one expert suggests Goma will be better off relocating.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I wouldn't rebuild the city here. You want to know my point of view? This is my point of view.

BURNS: But Dareo Tedesco (ph) says he realizes moving a whole city is out of the question. Instead, he says, internationally funded improvements in censors around Mt. Nyriagongo could improve the warning system.

Vichomo Cleofass (ph) may have lost everything, but he says you'll never persuade him to relocate. "Where can I go," he says? "I can't go to Rwanda or Uganda. I'm Congolese. And if it's to die here, so be it."

The aid may be slow, the reconstruction a long way off, but Goma residents are defiantly staying put, until the next eruption.

Chris Burns, CNN, Goma, in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com