Nduba dumping site: Residents protest compensation delays

Several residents of Nduba Sector, Gasabo District in Kigali have raised concerns over delays to compensate them after their relocation mid this year to pave way for the city dumping site formerly in Nyanza, Kicukiro district.An area resident, Jean de Dieu Nshimiyimana, said the district had promised to compensate them within a month which has since elapsed. “We are around 21 families and so far, only four families were compensated two weeks ago. We have waited for four months but now they’ve promised to sort us out by next week. They told us that our compensation delayed because most of us gave them our SACCO (savings and credit co-operatives) accounts instead of other bank accounts,” he said.Nshimiyimana said that since shifting the dumping site to the area, there has been a decline in agricultural activities.Among those affected is a 55 year old woman who preferred anonymity.The mother of five has lived in Nduba sector since 1981. She owns 20 acres of land on which she owns a house where she stays. She bemoaned that the compensation was modest which makes her feel cheated. “Out of my 20 acres of land, they only gave me Rwf2m for compensation which is not the value of my property. I don’t find this fair at all, at least if they had given me money worth the real value of my property because I feel cheated right now,” she said.She said the dumping site poses a health hazard leading to serious epidemics in the area.Kamanzi observed he was aware some people were yet to be paid yet they were also affected.When contacted, the mayor of Gasabo District, Willy Ndayizeye, disclosed that the compensation criterion was well elaborated and based on the 2009 ministerial order. “Some of those residents may have big chunks of land but with little or no property on it, which could be why they may think the compensation is not enough yet we base it on the value of property,” he said.The mayor further stated that the residents were all supposed to be compensated within the promised timeframe but the problem was arose after some provided SACCO accounts with missing codes.Those who fulfilled all requirements have been compensated while those whose accounts had problems are supposed to get all their payment before the end of the week, the mayor said.Ndayizeye said preparations were underway to process documents to compensate everyone else.

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Nduba dumping site: Residents protest compensation delays