Residents contest garbage collection fees

A walk along the streets of Kimihurura Sector, Kimihurura Cell, in Gasabo District, reveals sackfuls of uncollected garbage due to mix-up between a contracted company and area residents. Residents claim that a garbage collection firm commonly referred to by its French acronym, AGRUNI (Action pour les agriculteurs Unis), has unduly hiked the cost of its services. “I live here (in this house) all alone and garbage collected is little. The new fee of Rwf3,000 is rather high. The fee should instead be determined by the number of family members,” complains an area resident.Another one lamented of the confusion arising as a result of multiple garbage collection firms operating in the area. “Some residents are also reluctant to pay due to the confusion caused by the firm we work with since so far, there are five of them.” AGRUNI president, Jean Paul Ngenzi Shiraniro, told The New Times that the company has signed contract with the sector authorities to collect and dispose all the garbage in the area, saying that its clientele is categorised into three according to the Ubudehe structure; the poor are supposed to pay a monthly charge of Rwf1,700, middle class pays Rwf3,000 while the upper class category is charged Rwf5,000. Ubudehe is a Government enabled process to help local people create social capital, nurture citizenship and build a strong civil society. This process helps citizens to engage in local problem-solving using their own locally designed institutions, in voluntary association. He noted with concern the existence of many other companies operating illegally in the same area saying residents are surprisingly unaware of his firm’s activities blaming area authorities for the anomaly. “After signing the contract with the sector, we requested the authorities to stop firms operating illegally but in vain. They have not paid us for months, and even after conducting investigations, there has been no resolution to the case,” bemoaned Ngenzi saying that his firm has made loses totaling Rwf21 million. “The problem should be resolved by the residents, sector leaders and us the company,” he suggested.George Rusanganwa, the official is in charge of hygiene and sanitation in the sector, says that Kimihurura residents have been classified into normal categories under the Ubudehe system. He explains that they have been sensitised to strictly observe hygiene in their homes but many are unwilling to do so.“The problem is not that we charge them much money because everyone is appropriately classified; the problem is that they are not willing to pay hence posing environmental threats by unlawfully disposing off garbage at night,” says Rusanganwa.He also acknowledged the presence of many garbage collection firms creating that had created confusion over the provision of garbage collection services. “We know of the existence of other companies around but AGRUNI is the one that we work with. Others are illegal, Kigali City Council is aware of this and it is in the process of resolving the problem since each sector is supposed to work alongside one firm,” he observes. “We are dealing with the company to decide the problem; there is also ongoing communication to sensitise residents to appreciate the policy and pay fees to the assigned company. We hope we will be able to solve the problem soon,” he promised.

National

Residents contest garbage collection fees