Rwanda’s officials predict that Kigali’s fresh master plan will thoroughly adhere to the novel housing scheme to solve cash earning problems, notably proletariat.
The new master plan of the city of Kigali will increase monthly earnings of slum residents thanks to revised housing structure.
“We
conducted a study assessing the financial capacity of Kigali residents. We
realized that 58 per cent of Kigali residents are low income earners who earn
less than Rwf100,000 per month,” Marie Solange Muhirwa, City of Kigali’s Chief
of Urban Planning, said, adding that; “Under the new master plan, we have to
get affordable houses for them.”
The consultants who developed the
master plan suggested various solutions to Kigali’s sustained problem of lack
of affordable housing.
“Government will also inject funds in
such projects to make sure low income earners get decent housing,” she further
said.
“The choice is that such low income
earners can rent these houses at affordable prices, while others can get bank
loans to buy or build their own houses at affordable cost as well as gradually
improve their houses in slums.”
Muhirwa explained that the new approaches
will integrate the poor in the development projects.
Among the proposals, residents who live
in slums where they own land can give the land to investors for development.
“After completing a building, the
investor can give part or unit of the building to the plot provider,” Muhirwa
added.
One of the areas where this arrangement
will be piloted is Kimisagara Sector in Nyarugenge District.
The city will then extend the project
to other areas. The official added that there are other ways to develop the
slums.
“We have another project in the Biryogo
area, Nyarugenge District, funded by the World Bank. We are upgrading
infrastructure in the areas such as tarmacked roads that will motivate
residents to upgrade their houses. The project is about to be completed,” she said.
The same approach, she said, will also
be used in slums of Gatenga of Kicukiro, slums in Nyabisindu and Nyagatovu in
Gasabo district, slums of Kimisagara, Gitega and Rwezamenyo sectors in
Nyarugenge district.
She added slums on sloppy areas will
also be upgraded as the new master plan has allowed residents to live on slopes
not exceeding 50 per cent but in safe and smart buildings.
“Studies will show how to build on
slopes,” she said.
According to local government minister
Anastase Shyaka, the new approach in the master plan will eliminate slums and
unplanned settlements in the city at affordable cost.
The Minister for Infrastructure, Claver
Gatete said that the approaches in the master plan will accommodate 3.8 million
population expected in 2050 while creating 1.8 million jobs in Kigali city.
“We need a smart, better and
sustainable city as Rwanda wants to exit from a low income to upper-middle
income country by 2050. Affordable housing, smart mobility and others are
needed,” he noted.
Source: New Times