The ISP displacement site in Bunia's Muzipela neighbourhood is running short of clean drinking water, Radio Okapi reported on Monday. Nearly 16,000 people live in the camp, which has only one water source. That source cannot meet the needs of the thousands of households living there.
Queues are growing around the single water point. Residents say the site's four taps no longer run regularly. Even when the supply returns, it falls far short of what the camp's roughly 3,500 households need.
The state of the pipe network makes things worse. According to Radio Okapi, the system serving the site's 39 blocks is now almost completely out of service. With no other option, some households buy water from wells in nearby neighbourhoods. Others draw water from the Ngezi River despite the health risks.
Olivier Bavi Karba, president of the Association of Displaced People in Ituri, said that the shortage makes it very hard to follow hygiene and Ebola prevention measures. He noted that the province must remain on alert for health threats.
Local officials say the site has recorded about 10 confirmed Ebola cases and about 20 suspected cases since the epidemic began in May. Asimwe Kiza, secretary of the site's committee of displaced people, called on humanitarian organisations to boost water supply quickly. He said that this was needed to stop diseases from spreading.