In several parts of the country a good number of once grass- thatched houses ‘Nyakatsi’ have been roofed with iron sheets, yet in some areas the program is taking a slow pace.
In Rubavu for instance, the June deadline has been postponed to September due to poor management.
The Rubavu district vice mayor in charge of social affairs Rachael Nyirasafari admitted and attributed the slow implementation to lack of adequate materials.
She urges there was an error made while indentifying those who are needy to be supported with construction materials.
Nyirasafari, noted that among those selected, there were some who had the means to roof their huts with iron sheets and that’s why a screening process was necessary to indentify once again those who were extremely poor.
Lack of materials and poor allocation of facilities are not the only problems, the Rubavu vice mayor further pointed out. She pointed out that some residents; especially those from Busasamana sector had wrong mindsets towards the changes.
“Some still are reluctant to adopt to iron sheets saying they are preserving culture, yet the grass thatched houses are so outdated ,” she remarked.
Three years ago, the Government embarked on a campaign to improve housing, which included the eradication of Nyakatsibut the program was accelerated this year.
The aim is to put an end to grass-thatched houses so that the vulnerable would have decent shelters equipped with modern and healthy infrastructure.
In 2009 the Ministry of Local Government (MINALOC) indentified 124,671 grass-thatched houses. The next phase consisted of sensitizing the concerned families on the importance of having decent housing.
In January this year the number of Nyakatsi was minimized down to 70,985.
It was expected that the operation, which has a budget of Frw 4 billion, to close by the end of May 2011, for all Nyakatsi-dwellers to have resettled, but in some areas the execution is slow.
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