People born in Huye District but resident in other parts of the country, mainly the City of Kigali, have been urged to support local lucrative projects to spur development in the district. The call was made Sunday during a meeting between Huye District officials, sector leaders and hundreds of natives, working in the public and private sectors. The meeting sought to assess the implementation of this year’s performance contract by the district as well as discussing and identifying priority areas to expedite development. The district has embarked on key projects, mainly in the manufacturing sector, through value addition and infrastructure development. The projects include setting up avocado, sunflower and maize processing plants to help farmers maximise benefits from agriculture. The Huye District mayor, Eugene Kayiranga Muzuka, said there was need for concerted effort to enable the district achieve its development agenda. “We are looking to plant sunflower on a large scale. But we cannot do that until we have in place a processing plant to process oil from sunflower,” said Kayiranga, urging the natives to look at agro-processing as a business opportunity. He added that the district had embarked on a three-year project to set up an avocado processing plant, expected to be complete within the next two years. “We have joined hands with the Catholic Church and private sector to grow avocados on 50 hactares this year and set up an avocado processing plant. We hope the plant will be complete within the next two years,” he said. He said they are constructing a network of feeder roads to link farmers to markets, something he said will help boost their revenues. “But farmers will not carry the produce on their heads. We encourage you to invest in the transport sector so that farmers are able to transport their produce from their fields to the market,” he said. All these projects are in line with the development blueprint of the City of Huye, which is among six towns nationwide which are set to be elevated to secondary cities. MP Innocent Kayitare, who spoke on behalf of participants who live outside the district, called for continued cooperation to ensure the proposed projects are realised. “Being a public servant does not bar you from venturing into business. We need to partner with the district authorities to fast-track development of the district,” he said. editorial@newtimes.co.rw
