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Burundi: Government to Reorganize Community Service Program
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Burundi Réalités (Bujumbura)
18 January 2008
Posted to the web 18 January 2008
Bujumbura
The government of Burundi is set to reorganize the community service program. A project law to reinforce the program is being prepared by the interior ministry and will soon be analysed in a cabinet meeting.
Many people do not participate in the community service program, although the police have been mobilized. Many people consider these works a waste of time; and prefer to stay home during the two and a half hours in which the service is performed. Only top authorities seem to be interested in participating in community service works which were once voluntary but have become a mere drudgery imposed by the government. The community service program brings to mind the period of one-party rule when Burundian were mobilised to serve the ruling party.
The community service program seems to have lost its purpose as well. It has become a merely a means for top officials to appear in public. Those who are dismissed from their lucrative positions in the government stop participating in these works which have become a facet of the electoral campaign.
It is clear that the community service program must be reorganized. Although these works are done each Saturday, piles of garbage still rot near many markets, including the central market of Bujumbura. Many streets in the slums of Bujumbura were destroyed or dirtied following these works. A monument being constructed at a cost of 58-million francs to the Burundian people was destroyed partly because of community service works that were carried out on its site and party because of heavy rains. In the city of Bujumbura the community service program has replaced the dying Municipal Technical Services which formerly maintained the cleanliness of city of Bujumbura. Instead of equipping this company, the government has chosen to leave the work to the citizenry who lack the proper training. Taxes for cleaning the city continue to be collected.
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