Ten more receive replacement houses as Eacop construction nears
One of the residents of Nkomelo Village in Muleba, Yohana Joseph and his wife are all smiles as they inspect their new house that was built as part of the resettlement exercise to pave the way for the East African Crude Oil Pipeline. PHOTO | COURTESY
What you need to know:
- The houses are covered by a one year warranty period, whereby the contractors will be responsible for fixing any problem that may arise during that period.
Kagera. Ten residents of Nkomelo Village, Muleba District, Kagera Region on Tuesday received the keys to their new resettlement houses in their readiness to leave their old places and pave the way for the construction of the 1,443km-East African Crude Oil Pipeline (Eacop), which is slated to start later this year.
The houses have modern amenities, including outdoor kitchens, solar powered batteries for lighting and conventional sockets, rainwater harvesting and water storage tanks as well as ventilated improved pit latrines.
The families expressed their delight upon seeing the quality of the houses in which they will now live.
“Honestly, I never imagined that one day my family would live in such a beautiful…,” said a 67-year old Jovin Bebwa Thadeo, a father of 15 children.
Besides the houses, the residents have also received monetary compensations.
In attendance at the event were representatives of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (Eacop), the Energy and Water Utilities Regulatory Authority (Ewura), the Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC), and government officials from Muleba District.
The director of petroleum business at the TPDC, Dr Wellington Hudson, said a total of 339 replacement homes will be built for Project Affected People (PAPs) in Tanzania by September this year.
“So far, 58 of the houses – which includes today’s ten - have already been handed over in various pipeline-affected locations,” he said.
The Eacop managing director Martin Tiffen said in Tanzania there were a total of 9,898 PAPs (households) of which some 97 percent were impacted through land, crops, trees or structures while 344 PAPs – accounting for three percent - also had their primary dwelling impacted.
“In line with IFC (International Finance Corporation) Performance Standards, physically displaced households were offered the choice of cash compensation or replacement housing, with some 90 percent electing for replacement housing,” he said.
The houses are covered by a one year warranty period, whereby the contractors will be responsible for fixing any problem that may arise during that period.
Martin Tiffen stressed that proper completion of the compensation process was a pre-requisite for notifying households to vacate their land. The Chairman of the Board of Directors of Energy and Water Utilities Regulatory Authority (Ewura), Prof Mark Mwandosya, hailed the move by Eacop to hand over houses to PAPs, saying that it sends a clear message that human rights are also considered in the implementation of the project.
“We consider all international requirements including environmental protection and conservation as we implement this national strategic project,” he said.
