It is very hot outside around mid-day. A line of about 200 people is forming by the door way of a small finished house at the Batsinda housing project. The people are picking up their cheques, while others are complaining about how small the amount of money they have received is. These are former residents of Batsinda hill who are leaving so that Social Security Fund, Caise Social accomplishes its target of constructing 250 houses at this site. Jamarie Wiragiye says he is not satisfied with the money he has got from compensation. His property was worth Frw8m, but to his surprise, he received only Frw2.4m. “I had two houses, a kitchen and 2 acres of land,” Wiragiye said while shedding tears. As I was still talking to him, a group of over 20 people surrounded me saying that they were not happy with the expropriation process. One man, who identified himself as Jean Claude Uwiringiyimana, says he was forced to sign against his will. He said he had refused because they had under- priced his property. “They priced my avocados tree at Frw50” Uwiringiyimana said.However, Batsinda residents who were expropriated were not against the process, but they were complaining about the money they were getting as compensation. Most of their comments were on how CSR under-valued the price of their properties. The project manager, Ephraim Rusurabeza, said they never under valued the price of the products but they were following the prices which are in the expropriation law of 1996. “The residents wanted us to bargain the price of every property they own, which would make our work hard,” Rusurabeza explained. “How can you bargain the price of every property of over 200 people in an area this size?” He said they had a specific price value of every property according to their law, so there was no need for them to bargain. “These people want money which their property is not worth,” said Rusurabeza. “A person with an old house which is not even permanent, is claiming Frw 8m. You know these people can’t get satisfied with money. But our aim is to provide them with excellent services for the future.”CSR has spent Frw250M compensating at least 200 people at the Batsinda housing project he said. The project is aiming to construct 250 low-cost houses for people in Ubumwe cell. Ubumwe cell is located in the Muhima sector of the Nyarugenge district. Since this sector is located just outside the central business district, Ubumwe cell has been selected as a pilot area to redefine the neighbourhood. “We are targeting lower and irregular income earners at this place,” said Rusurabeza. “People at Ubumwe cell have houses with no access to roads, no drainage system, no waste disposal and the area is poorly shaped, which can lead to accidents during the rainy season. So, we want to transform their way of living.” Rusurabeza explained that the houses built at Batsinda are “modern houses with rain water harvesting systems, connected to biogas systems, with water and electricity.” Each house is equipped with two bedrooms, a kitchen, and bathroom with a toilet. Batsinda village is located in kagugu cell, kinyinya sector Gasabo district. According to Rusurabeza, every house costs Frw3.5m and the person is given 20 years to complete the payment. The stakeholders of the project are CSR, Kigali City, Rwanda Housing Bank and Gasabo district. He said the targeted people are those who have houses worth Frw3.5m or less. However, Frw 250m is to be used to compensate people who have been occupying 15.5 hectares of land which is needed to fulfil their target of constructing 250 low cost houses at Batsinda. Rusurabeza also said they have completed 160 houses and 90 houses are remaining. “But we are planning to complete this project and house people by November this year,” he said. After completing this project, they are planning to install the following: public gardens, neighbouring centres-telecentres, living spaces such as commercial areas, weaving areas which will accommodate over 300 women and a mushroom growing area. “The aim is to encourage unemployed people to not spend their time in bars but in constructive activities,” he said. The project manager said the Batsinda housing project will cost over Frw 2.5 billion. Ends
