Cement factory clash

Kigali Cement Company (KCC) is embroiled in a feud with its neighbours who say they can no longer stand the noise from the factory machines and are worried their homes will collapse as a result of vibrations from the heavy equipment.The Factory, located in Kamenge Village, Nyabugogo does most of the heavy work at night, when the residents are sleeping.Jean Pierre Shumbusho, one of the affected residents who has two-year old child, says the situation is becoming unbearable.“We have constant cough especially the children, everything in the house gets coated with dust including cooked food. We seem to be developing breathing complications,” Shumbusho said, adding that during the day, the areas close to the factory are filled with dust from the cement making process.Jean Damascene Nsengimana, a father of three, says his children have developed a chronic cough which is now drug-resistant.Another resident, Everest Hakizimana claims that he lost his home after water from the factory slowly seeped into the foundation of his house until it was too weak to hold the structure.“I petitioned the factory management about the water until I gave up, and now my house is gone,” he said.Four years later, the government has intervened. Earlier this week, Prime Minister Pierre Damien Habumuremyi visited the area and issued a one-month ultimatum to Kigali Cement Company to settle the issue with residents.The settlement mainly involves expropriating all the residents in the close vicinity to ensure that no one is affected by the factory’s activities.Following the Premier’s visit, a commission to assess those to be expropriated and value their property was set up.The Commission comprises local leaders, the police, factory and resident representatives and the Rwanda Environment Management Authority (REMA).Placide Niyonzima, the company’s assistant manager, said that while they had already compensated affected residents, they are still willing to comply with the recommendations of the commission.“When the factory started in 2008, the district set up a committee to determine who should be compensated and relocated. REMA was involved, and we dully paid those that were identified,” Niyonzima explained, adding that the firm will honour the resolutions of the new commission.However, the residents who spoke to The New Times said they were skeptical, claiming the factory started full operations in 2007, and only expropriated residents who lived on the piece of land that the factor was built and not the surrounding residents.One of the houses in close proximity of the manufacturing plant, which belongs to one Jean Damascene Nsengimana, had visible cracks on the walls.He was among the residents who complained that they had repeatedly approached their local authorities for intervention but were always told that the issue was referred to higher authorities.Efforts to a get a comment from REMA were fruitless as calls were neither answered nor returned.

National

Cement factory clash