Infrastructure ministry clarifies on compensation procedures

The Minister of State in-charge of Transport in the Ministry of Infrastructure (Mininfra), Alex Nzahabwanimana, has called for respect of road reserves as stipulated by the Road Act. Nzahabwanimana, was speaking on a live talk show aired on Rwanda TV, on Sunday, said ignorance of what the Road Act says will not be entertained as some people claim. The minister explained among others, grounds for compensating people with property in road reserves.“The law is very clear; if a property is within less than 15 metres from a road, the owner will use their means to remove it or they will hire us to do it for them,” he said. Concerning interdistrict and cross-border roads, the Act demands that 22 metres from either side of the road, median lane and land belt within the boundaries is free from any activities, apart from public infrastructures such as water and electricity facilities, and gas stations.For village roads, the reserve should be of 12 metres on either side.The audience from different part of the country, especially in Musanze and Rubavu on highway Kigali-Rubavu, argued that the compensation is subject to unfairness and delays.The minister said there is a lot of cheating by people seeking compensation they are not entitled to by law. People eligible for compensation are those who had activities at 15 metres from a highway, and others who had activities within 22 metres before the new Road Act, which was gazetted in January last year.

National

Infrastructure ministry clarifies on compensation procedures