Lack of land to resettle families frustrates efforts to move them from landslide prone areas
Thousands of families are still trapped in disaster prone areas across the country as local authorities struggle to find land to relocate them.
Rwanda Today established that even as parts of the country brace for heavy rains during April to May period, local authorities struggle to expedite the process of relocating families still trapped in areas deemed prone to landslides and floods.
Estimated 14,000 families rendered homeless by the disasters in the past were yet to get shelters as majority are the vulnerable who need state support while estimated 2,500 families are deemed capable of building for themselves but were unable to secure plots in designated settlement sites.
Efforts to house the families by districts, Emergency Management Ministry and other stakeholders are understood to have equally been derailed by Covid-19 dispruption.
For instance, a project to house over 167 families affected by the disasters in Gasabo District of Kigali City could not take off because the City needed to acquire a seven hectares of land in Jali for resettlement.
Equally, over 120 families in areas deemed high risk in Akabahizi Cell of Gitega Sector in Nyarugenge District are still trapped in the area known for old informal settlements on steep slopes, after attempts to get them to safety through a project to build them modern dwelling units delayed.
City Council recently approved resolutions including property valuations to allow authorities to expedite the relocation, but no details yet on when the activities could kick off.
Kigali’s districts count tens of thousands of families each still trapped in areas deemed prone to disasters.
In other districts such as Ngororero, where last year’s April to May rains displaced the highest number of people in the country currently counts hundreds of families yet to be housed after the support by different stakeholders allowed the district to find homes for 1,333 families as at December.
“There are 396 families out of which 211 had difficulty acquiring plots of land so they can build on their own, we have assisted them in collaboration with MINEMA but even for others we are making sure that they get support,” said Godefroid Ndayambaje, the district Mayor.
While he admits that there were over 4,000 families still trapped in areas deemed disaster hotspots, he argues that the number had reduced from over 10,000 families last year thanks to the community service and its human security intervention that addressed the general problem of indecent accommodation.
While the Ministry of Emergency Management is understood to be working jointly with districts to evacuate the families still trapped in high risk zones ahead of the heavy rains, it was not forthcoming with details about the numbers, cost estimates and timelines.
The Ministry and local authorities had crafted a clear roadmap towards addressing the homelessness soon after disasters exacerbated the homelessness issue last year, leaving thousands of families in temporary shelters.
With more still trapped in areas deemed prone to disasters, there are concerns over potential effects of the just started March to May rains after the weatherman predicted adversity in Kigali, and parts of Western and Southern province.