New urbanization approach adopted

Plans to urbanise Kigali have been revisited to accommodate the interests of all Rwandans, regardless of anyone’s economic status, a senior housing official said yesterday.Esther Mutamba, the Director General of Rwanda Housing Authority (RHA), told The New Times that the government was reviewing the city development approach, with more emphasis on empowering people to develop their localities other than expropriating them.RHA is in charge of implementing the national housing construction policy.“We realised that expropriating people does not necessarily bring about the desired results because most of them still relocate to slums or wetlands. Therefore, the government wants to ensure that instead of resettling people, they are offered assistance to develop their neighbourhoods,” she said yesterday.Mutamba was speaking on the sidelines of a tour of various Kigali City suburbs and the Rwanda Special Economic Zone (RSEZ), situated in Gasabo, by a team of 10 parliamentarians who sit on the Chamber of Deputies’ Standing Committee on Agriculture, Livestock and Environment.The tour was partly aimed at showing the lawmakers the location where the factories that currently operate from the Gikondo wetland will relocate to in the near future.“After voting and reviewing the law governing urban planning and construction, it was agreed that we conduct a tour of the various projects that had raised public concerns. For the smooth implementation of the Kigali Master Plan, we must ensure that all Rwandans are integrated in the urbanization process,” said MP Adolph Bazatoha, the committee chairman.The nine factories will be located on 98 hectares at RSEZ.Construction works are expected to be completed within two years, Jean Isabelle Gasana, the RSEZ Project Manager, told the parliamentarians. Of the three urban districts, only one (Nyarugenge) has finalised its master plan.

National

New urbanization approach adopted