The Ngoma District Council has passed over Rwf12 billion revised budget for the financial year 2015/16 with priority given to infrastructure and agriculture. The budget, passed on Friday, will mainly cater for projects that were not fulfilled under last year’s performance contracts. The Council Vice chairman, Dr Mathusalem Kanobana, said the budget is aligned to the country’s second Economic Development Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS2). Kanobana said the budget, would cater for development activities in addition to wages and salaries as well as operational costs. At least 41 per cent would be allocated to infrastructure and agriculture. “We want to contribute toward the achievement of EDPRS2. Infrastructure development and modern agriculture will be priority areas. We want to see enhancement of irrigation, particularly hillside irrigation. The use of biogas in communities is one of the areas of great concern as we push towards sustainable development. So, the money will be partly used in feeder roads rehabilitation, biogas campaign and facilitation in homes,” he said. The government gives almost Rwf300,000 to biogas developers, while each beneficiary is only required to contribute Rwf100, 000 as top up for the completion of the biogas system in a home. Community members also access soft loans to help them pay the first installment. Kanobana urged residents to own the biogas and ensure proper handling. Calling on beneficiaries to share the benefits, he noted that biogas was necessary in order to protect the environment. “Among the targets that were not fulfilled is the campaign for use of biogas in homes, out of the 152 biogas facilities we were to construct, only 54 are in place. We thus urge all stakeholders to put in more effort to realise the goal. We are talking of sustainable development, but it can not be achieved without sustainable environmental protection,” he said. Mathias Ngenda, the executive secretary of Rukira sector that has relatively excelled in development of biogas in the district, said the challenge was community sensitisation. “One reason as to why we have managed to go ahead of other sectors is that we conduct the campaigns on biogas usage on a daily basis. We sensitise people about the importance of biogas. So, it’s not only availability of money that works, but change of people’s attitude to embrace the clean technology,” he said. Reacting to the campaign to increase usage of biogas, some residents, however, expressed pessimism that the venture was not workable. “Use of biogas has far reaching effects on agriculture development and the economy. We all know this, but many homes that started using it ended up failing…the system is set up, but collapses in few months. So, it should be reassessed to see if it fits in our rural settings,” said Alvera Mukamusoni, a resident of Rukira sector. editorial@newtimes.co.rw
