Transcript REPUBLIC OF BURUNDI MINISTRY OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS
March 2015
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF BBS IN BURUNDI
March 2015
The BBS Project consists of optic fiber installation on Burundi territory especially along the national roads Map. The optic cable was layed in a such way to create a backbone of more than 1250km long, connecting all the main cities of the provinces. This Project is part of Wide Band Communication Infrastructure whose management is entrusted to the Executive Secretariat of Information and Communication Technologies (SETIC).
The project target is both to provide the necessary communication links in the country and also to ensure their connection to the global optic-Fiber network and enable the provision of Internet broadband to many by connecting them on flexibility basis.
The idea is to connect provincial capitals. The optic-fiber cable will be installed in a trench along the national roads network (RN); except where this is not possible and where we can use air installations.
In fact, it is a network ring connecting the fifteen provinces of the country to the city of Bujumbura, and the Regional Countries where will be located the virtual landing stations of submarine cables. The BBS NTWK is actually an access point from regional infrastructures to our national system.
Overall, consistency of work and operating service and maintenance of the optical fiber network can be described as follows: Installation of lines of fixed cables and switches: they are digging trenches 40cms wide and deep 1,20ms both in urban centres and along the national roads (RN) leading to it .
The width of the trench being provided to 40cm, it can be estimated, taking into account the space for the cuttings, a few meters for the entire structure. The total length being 1250km, tightly area affected by the project is 1250000m x 2 m = 2500000m². Barely 125ha. But in reality, we must admit that the project activities influence area corresponds to virtually all municipalities through which the fibre as shown in the description of the components of the physical / biological and social environment led to the next point.
As seen in the map, the route of the entire optical fiber project crossed the whole country. However, Burundi has a varied landscape, both in the relief by vegetation. The short distances between very different regions accentuate this impression of diversity. Moreover, it appears from this map that the project through all ecological regions of the country, the areas affected by the project have various environmental and social profiles.
Given these reported above, we can say that the population was affected mainly agricultural. The range of crops grown is quite wide and should include all crops in all natural regions and crossed by the infrastructure. It includes, in order of importance, the main crops such as beans, cassava, sweet potato, banana, maize, potato and sorghum.
But if these plants are far the most important in the current supply, a range of secondary crops such as peanuts, peas, finger millet, etc., complement usefully.
Besides these food crops, growing coffee culture is by far the largest pension in Burundi. It represents an important contribution for coffee farmers and the common, which is why it is a particularly framed Culture benefiting inputs and ongoing support of agricultural agents.
The negative environmental and social impacts of the project should come mainly from the laying of the fibre (search and crossing human settlements, fields, forests, etc.) that can lead to: soil erosion, soil pollution and the water, vegetation loss, disruption of living conditions, traffic inconvenience, noise, dust, risk of injury; the generation of solid and liquid waste, the occupation of private land, the probable destruction of crops, deforestation sites, the risks of potential conflicts over land acquisition, pollution and nuisance due to work on local residents and workers, disruption of free movement and socio-economic activities, non-use of the resident workforce and the occupation of land, vandalism risks (theft, pillage burglary and sabotage of sites.) etc.
However, appropriate measures have been taken; the reality on the ground has not favoured the birth and existence of negative environmental and social impacts of the optic fiber project. To be more precise, there were no sites based temporary and permanent life websites borrowing lodges and career sites.
Indeed, only the trenches of the sites have been traced to the establishment of this BBS infrastructure. Each time, the staff of BBS and subcontractors have rented houses in towns surrounding construction sites.
Similarly, no erosion phenomenon is apprehended in places where the cuts roads and sidewalks, since the exposed areas will be the item of furniture (grading, granular material of fill and concrete).
Considering that various mitigation measures will be implemented to counter the erosion in work areas and that the facilities of construction-related impacts are not significant, no erosion problem is apprehended during other phases of the project.
After identification of impacts, following the determination of mitigation measures or corrective negative effects. However, some negative impacts have not had the mitigation measures and alternatives under these conditions had been planned.
Generally, mitigation measures or alternatives entail costs that are often not included in the project, that is why it is recommended that the assessment of likely impacts on the environment during the period identification of the project to provide the mitigation measures in the project budget. To mitigate the significant adverse impacts, the recommended measures were consistently applied in the implementation of the Dorsal BBS.
Residual impacts may remain even after the implementation of mitigation measures. However, the planned mitigation measures have been implemented satisfactorily and residual impacts from the Optic Fiber Project can be considered negligible for immediately after lying and burying the cable, an overhaul of the plot area followed.
Photo of repairs carried out: The flag pole is the only witness to the presence of an Optic Fiber Cable at this location.
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In afforestation, trenching systematically avoided pulling and cutting trees bypassing.
Work done for the cable to pass over a bridge on a river on the road Gitega - KARUZI: Avoid breaking the concrete pipes.
Passage of O.F cable on a bridge on the road Gitega - KARUZI.A photo taken during the digging Of trenches in April 2012.
Passage of O F cable on the same deck of a bridge over the picture Gitega road - KARUZI in October 2014: The passage of the cable to the book is not visible.
In this picture, it is a site trenches on the Bujumbura-Ijenda Nyakararo road, had been crossing the picket indicator of Optic Fiber we would not know that the O.F goes here. These are two photos on PK41 after Ijenda.
Only post marking indicates the presence of O.F on the edge of the road, about 12 months after the work of trenching and cable break.
At KARUZI, tree planting has not been negatively impacted by the passage of this infrastructure. In fact, the plot has systematically avoided any interruption and any pulling trees bypassing each time
On the road Gitega - KARUZI, this wood crossed by the O.F cable about 10m from its top edge, there is no indication of digging work there about 24 months of that.
The cable runs along the fence of a plot at the entrance to the capital of the municipality Gisozi in Mwaro Province. The traces of the trench are completely erased after two years of burying the cable.
A mixed coffee plantation and trees through which the O.F cable. The works date from February 2014.
On the road MURAMVYA - GITEGA, a coffee plantation was crossed by the Optic Fiber cable. One of the mitigation measures applied at that time was to avoid tearing coffee trees during trenching. A systematic solution and rigorously adopted whenever the situation arose.
On bridge passages: the cable into a bridge fixation, with protection by steel pipe.