Central African Republic's Monkey Island dire sanitation conditions

The Monkey Island, the second district of Bangui in the Central African Republic has no toilets and suffers from dire hygienic conditions despite a recent cholera outbreak.

According to Oxfam, a Non-Governmental Organisation in the region, the sanitary conditions on the island are likely to spread the disease.

“Sanitary inspections have shown that they have no water to drink. They take water from the river to drink. They have no latrines and they have no knowledge of basic hygiene,” said Oxfam’s water and sanitation engineer, Boaventure Koumbe.

In a bid to contain the disease that has already killed 19 people, a team of health workers visit the area four times a week, to sensitize the residents on the importance of hygiene.

“I came home from church and my daughter who had diarrhea was vomiting. We took her to the hospital but it was too late,” said one resident.

The island which is quite far from the capital poses a major challenge in accessing basic hygiene measures hence leading to the spread of the epidemic.