The Mayor of Kigali City, Pudence Rubingisa on Thursday warned residents living in flood-prone areas in several suburbs of the urban settings to urgently relocate to safer areas so as to avoid any form of disasters.
The call by the senior municipality authority followed an earlier decision by the Rwandan Government to demolish all small residential houses and shops built in high risk zones of Kigali and its surroundings, in a move to protect residents from dire consequences of heavy rains.
Speaking during a brief interview with the state-owned Rwanda Television Thursday, Rubingisa explained that the move was necessary to avoid any loss of lives.
“We are experiencing the rising phenomenon of flood and people living in flood-prone areas should as a matter of urgency, relocate to safer areas,” he said.
Since 2017, municipality authorities managed to demarcate households located on 5336 hectares that were identified as high risk zones and whose occupants need to be relocated.
Affected areas are Mount Jali with 2,328 hectares in high risk, Rebero hill with houses established on 1,350 hectares of high risk and Mount Kigali with a high risk zone of 1,658 hectares.
According to the existing arrangement, the City of Kigali may decide to give money as part of expropriation. However, in some cases, residents who have to relocate are given new houses as part of expropriation.
The city of Kigali defines High risk zones as areas whose slope is above 30 percent.
CU/abj/APA