A section of residents living in the Kigali suburb of Gikondo will soon be relocated because their proximity to a wetland poses an environmental threat. This was revealed by Alex Muliisa, the National Project officer for the Rwanda Environment Management Authority [REMA] in an interview with The New Times. He also said that REMA and the Akagera Initiative have had several consultations to assess the urgency of relocating the residents. The Akagera Initiative project was initiated by President Paul Kagame, to ensure environmental conservation. Muliisa, stated that a geological and social economic evaluation was carried out to assess the human impact on the wetland and that during the consultations, it was concluded that the relocating of the residents was inevitable. According to the findings in the research, Muliisa said that the industries around the area contribute 16% of the pollution to the wetland. He added that, “when they [inhabitants] were building, soil was compacted and water just rushes off the surface pouring pollutants into the wet land.” Muliisa also revealed that the relocation exercise targets those residing on ten hectares of land that surrounds the wetland. He said that there are residential houses and industries on the said land. He also stated that the compensation terms for those to be relocated have not yet been finalised and that a meeting will soon be convened in order to come up with a conclusion. “We haven’t yet finalised…we are yet to have a meeting to discuss how the compensation exercise will be carried out,”Muliisa said. He, however, pointed out that the above problem was a result of past regimes that weren’t protective of the environment. “There are those who have legal documents to prove ownership of the land. In the 1970’s people were allowed to settle anywhere,” he said. Ends
