The Inter-ministerial Commission composed of members from the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) Ministry of Land Affairs, the Ministry of Energy and Hydrocarbons, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Environment, and the National Society for Electricity (SNEL) at the national level, as well as different leaders from the South Kivu Provincial Government, visited the Ruzizi III Hydroelectric Power project area from 7th to 11th November 2022.
The visit aimed at familiarizing with the project area, consulting the project-affected people, discussing, and verifying the processes put in place for the land and property valuation process carried out from September 2021 to February 2022.
In the project area, the commission headed by Mr. David Nyembwe, the Director of Cabinet in the Ministry of Land Affairs, was accompanied by local leaders from both Kamanyola and Karhongo clusters (Groupements), staff from Énergies des Grands Lacs (EGL), and Ruzizi III Energy Limited (REL). They visited different project sites including the switch yard, campsite, waste management site, transmission line site, and power dispatching site.
Interacting with the representatives of the project-affected people, Mr. David Nyembwe assured the population that the Government of Congo is informed of all steps of the project from the start till to date. “It requires the completion of some procedures but rest assured that the compensation process will be closed as soon as possible,” said Mr. Nyembwe while addressing the question of compensation’s payment timeline.
The representatives of the project-affected people reiterated that the land and property valuation process was fair and transparent. They confirmed that they were consulted, informed, and involved in the whole process. They requested to be continuously informed and speed up the compensation process by paying off the affected population.