NGOMA – Ngoma district officials have reiterated their determination to implement the Ministry of Local Government directive, to phase out grass thatched houses in the district by June 2010.

François Niyotwagira the Mayor of the district yesterday reminded all local leaders in the district that the dead line must be respected without fail.

He said that the set deadline to phase out such houses goes beyond implementing the official directives. "It is about being concerned with social welfare and love for the people.”

He reacted angrily to the revelation that some sectors like Mugesera still had hundreds of grass thatched houses.

"When we talk of 300 grass thatched houses, we mean that 30 percent of the houses in Mugesera are in poor state, hence exposing people to various dangers”.
"If we claim to be people’s leaders, let us make sure that this directive is adhered to,” he said.

Laurent Habiyakare, who lives in a grass thatched house is looking forward to owning a better house.

"What I am waiting for is the action from the concerned people, so that I would be in a position to get a proper house,” he said.

Ngoma district and most of other districts in the Eastern Province have the largest numbers of grass thatched houses in the country, due to political and historical reasons, officials said.

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