Aside from the threat of disease, this colonial city on banks of the Congo has been blighted by generations of underinvestment and bad government
Mbandaka, once prosperous and charming, with electricity and running water 24 hours a day, hasn’t moved on since the 1970s. Quite the opposite – this city, situated at the confluence of the Congo and Ruki rivers, has declined. Rainwater gnaws at the tarmac of its roads due to lack of drainage; houses collapse into the sodden ground of its estates; its socioeconomic life exudes poverty and misery, all the more glaring beside the affluent minority. Deadly malnutrition is creeping into many families. In late May, news that Ebola had reached Mbandaka added an edge of fear to this dismal portrait. The latest outbreak had already killed nearly 30 across the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and reaching a city of 1.2 million threatened a serious escalation.
from World news | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2tGERQh
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