17 districts complete dev’t plans ahead of schedule

The Head of Housing, Urban Planning and Development Division at Rwanda Housing Authority (RHA), Edward Kyazze, has disclosed that only 13 districts are yet to complete their local development plans, which have a deadline of December. The official made the announcement, during a phone interview with The Sunday Times. A local development plan is a master plan at the district level, aimed at guiding districts as they grow into urban centres. “Rwanda Housing Authority wants all the 30 districts across the country to have completed their respective local development plans by the end of this year. We have so far finished 17 and I am optimistic that the remaining 13 will have been finished by February next year,” Kyazze said. He said that RHA offers technical and financial assistance towards the implementation of the plans saying that the plans are designed and carried out by consultants who are hired by the district authority depending on their geographic location. He noted that RHA in partnership with the remaining 13 districts have already given tenders to several. The districts which have not yet completed their local development plans include Gasabo, Kicukiro, Ngororero, Burera, Rutsiro, Gisagara, Gicumbi, Ruhango, Kamonyi, among others. Some of the challenges in the implementation process of the local plans include low capacity among the residents to meet the required infrastructure standards and lack of enough basic infrastructure facilities in various districts across the country saying that that makes it difficult to implement the plans. “If effectively and efficiently implemented, the local development plans can enable the country to achieve sustainable development socially, economically and financially and to also eliminate issues of building in a disorganised manner,” Kyazze said Ends