Over 80 households living around the hazardous Nduba landfill in Gasabo District are seeking over Rwf2 billion as compensation to urgently relocate, a report by the Chamber of Deputies' Standing Committee on Agriculture, Livestock and Environment showed on October 30, 2023.
The committee's members said that while the City of Kigali pushed the expropriation deadline to May , 2024, there is need for urgent relocation by end of 2023 considering worsening contamination.
This call comes in response to a letter written by concerned residents, highlighting the challenges they face.
According to estimates, waste dumped at landfill sites in the City of Kigali has increased threefold from 141.38 tonnes every day in 2006 to 495.76 but it has been difficult to sort them out at the landfill for better utilisation.
The increase in waste is due to the population in the City of Kigali that has grown from 603,049 in 2002 to about one million in 2015 and about 1.6 million as of now.
" This is a big issue because these residents also suffer from effects caused by pits in which toilet waste is dumped at the site. This contaminates soil and water sources and affects biodiversity in general," said MP Frank Habineza, calling for a sustainable solution to the increasing urban waste.
The city of Kigali has proposed to expropriate 40 families by December, 2023 and another 40 families by April 2024.
Mayor of City of Kigali, in May, 2023, raised concerns over budget constraints hampering the expropriation of the residents.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
" There was a pledge to expropriate the residents in 2021 and it was done. The dumpsite might spread diseases caused by poor sanitation. The residents should be expropriated by the end of December," MP Germaine Mukabalisa.
MP Georgette Rutayisire also echoed that urgent expropriation is needed given that the residents are not even allowed to rehabilitate their houses when they get damaged.
" Relocation of the residents started in 2012 and residents are around a hazardous dumpsite," she said.
MP Anitha Mutesi added : " In 2020, we adopted a resolution calling for a solution to the residents' concerns within six months. There is a need for changes in selecting priorities when it comes to budget allocation. That is a health concern."
MP Jean Claude Ntezimana emphasised seeking a sustainable solution by investing in waste recycling.
In 2022, Kigali residents were urged to begin sorting waste at household level as city authorities prepare to develop an organic fertiliser production plant.
At Least 70 per cent of waste in Kigali is organic and can be produced into fertilisers while 30 per cent of waste in Kigali is solid waste and should also be recycled.
Of this, 10 per cent are plastic bottles, five per cent are paper, all which can be recycled.
