Govt’s concession to Kigamboni residents

Tibaijuka 

By Samuel Kamndaya  (email the author)

In Summary

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The ministry has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with two foreign firms that are expected to build 15,000 residential houses in Phase 1 of the much-anticipated Kigamboni Satellite City Project. The Dubai-based Mi World will build 5,000 residences and China Hope Limited will put up 10,000.

Dodoma. The government sought yesterday to appease Kigamboni residents by unveiling a plan that ensures that they are active shareholders in the development of Kigamboni Satellite City Project.

Lands, Housing and Human Settlements Development minister Anna Tibaijuka told MPs here yesterday that the government will establish a fund, managed by the newly-initiated Kigamboni Development Agency, that will turn residents into shareholders in the development of the satellite city. “The ministry will initiate a fund that seeks to make sure that Kigamboni residents take part in the development of the project as shareholders,” Prof Tibaijuka told the National Assembly here yesterday. She requested the House to endorse a total of Sh108.33 billion for her ministry’s 2013/2014 budget.

The ministry has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with two foreign firms that are expected to build 15,000 residential houses in Phase 1 of the much-anticipated Kigamboni Satellite City Project. The Dubai-based Mi World will build 5,000 residences and China Hope Limited will put up 10,000.

“Kigamboni residents, who will be compensated for moving out to make way for the project, will be given priority in the sale of the houses to be built by these two firms,” Prof Tibaijuka added.

According to the minister, the UN recommends this strategy as best practice in resettlement schemes. She is a former under-secretary general of the UN and executive director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat). “The scheme is recommended because it does not pile pressure on someone who is being resettled to go and look for another place to build a house on,” she added. “I urge Kigamboni residents to make full use of this modern way of accumulating riches for themselves.”

In the 2012/3013 budget, Prof Tibaijuka’s ministry announced that it had set aside Sh60 billion to kick-start the Sh11.6 trillion project. The sum was part of the ministry’s Sh101.7 billion budget for the ministry. Ultimately, though, only a “miserable” percentage of the money was made available. The parliamentary standing committee on Land, Natural Resources and the Environment said only Sh8.7 billion had been released for the development budget for the entire ministry as of February 2013.

The House approved a total of Sh71 billion for various development projects (including the Kigamboni Project). But, until February 2013, only Sh8.7 billion that had been disbursed, with Kigamboni receiving just Sh5.001 billion.

“The government should make deliberate efforts to make sure that these funds are disbursed so that implementation of such strategic projects as Kigamboni City are implemented on time,” said Committee Member Mary Mwanjelwa (Special Seats - CCM).

The MP for Kigamboni, Dr Faustine Ndugulile, said the resistance from Kigamboni residents was a problem of the government’s own making, given that they had not been involved the people in developing the area into a satellite city.

He added: “It is astounding that much of what the ministry plans to do for Kigamboni can only be made public in parliament and through other gatherings.Nobody from the ministry has ever come to us and engaged us in the project development process. This is unfair. Even the government documents that Kigamboni residents need to ascertain the amounts that they should be paid in compensation are a secret.”

Moreover, he added, rather than raise the funding for the project, the government had cut it down to Sh50 billion in the 2013/2014 budget. “This raises a lot of questions,” he said. “It leaves us wondering about the government’s seriousness in making sure that the plan is realised.” Only Sh5 billion had been disbursed out of the Sh60 billion that was approved last year, Dr Ndugulile said, which raised questions about the government’s commitment to implementing the project.

The Sh11.6 trillion-Kigamboni Satellite City Project will be implemented in three phases. The first phase will span 2012-2022 and the second will run through 2022-2027. The third phase will be carried out from 2027 to 2032.

 

Of a total budget of Sh108.33 billion for this year, a total of Sh72.172 billion has been allocated for development expenditure while recurrent expenditure takes up Sh36.16 billion