Members of the Senate yesterday expressed concern over the uncoordinated land allocations which could cause losses to government in the future.

The senators were responding to the findings by the Senatorial Standing Committee on Economic Development and Finance regarding the national land use and habitat plan.

According to a documentary put together by the committee, there were major issues stemming from poor coordination between local administrators, with some pieces of land said to have several planned activities.

An aerial view of Kimihurura. Senators discussed how land for farming has been separated from land for settlement. Emmanuel Kwizera.

"For instance, there are places where the Ministry of Agriculture would create terraces only for someone in charge of settlement to come and remove them and instead designate the area for something else. Most of the planning for this land costs money and there are many times where big losses have been made,” the senators heard.

The committee also found that besides the areas designated for industries and settlement, there was no clear knowledge about land allocated to forests, farming and mining among others in all districts.

The Chairperson of the committee, Jacqueline Muhongayire, said that in some areas, district authorities had significantly widened the size of what was meant to be urban centre borders as they sought to expand the districts’ tax base.

"The law says that anyone living around these areas must pay a particular tax and this has made district authorities continue to widen the area in pursuit of more money,” she said.

This caused problems because the locals found themselves caught up in this and, in the end, some were unable to pay the taxes with many complaining that there were even no urban infrastructure to benefit from. 

Senator Apollinaire Mushinzimana warned fellow senators that the issues of land are complex and without proper measures, they could get worse.

"This report shows us that linking the issue of land and settlement with the increase in population will not be easy. This will require very strong action. I feel like the stakeholders in these issues sometimes have conflicting objectives. When it comes to this particular field, we really need institutional reforms on the national and local administration levels,” he said.

Senator Jean-Damascene Ntawukuriryayo proposed a more critical look into how such decisions like expanding these urban centre borders had been reached at and to stop any works until the mistakes have been rectified.

"The original district master plans were very clear on where the city or town boundaries stop. We should suspend all activities that are ongoing until we get a national master plan. If we don’t do this, we are not fixing any issues. I have seen a factory in Rwamagana, which is located in an area with fertile soils that can be used for agriculture and it is worrying,” he said.

The committee also found out that most of the master plans are prepared by foreign experts who, on many occasions, do not know the history and geography of some places and most of the plans were hastily approved by district advisory committees without being explained to the masses.

Most master plans were also found to indicate zonings done but have no detailed physical plans making implementation complicated.

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