Owners of plots adjacent to roads in Burundi’s Cities and towns are required to contribute for paving of roads.
For every square metre the plot owner will pay 61,773 Burundi francs (approximately U$20.6).
Egide Nijimbere the Minister of Infrastructure, Equipment, and Transport revealed the new guidelines on Tuesday.
He noted that the calculation is based on the length of the plot running alongside the road, multiplied by three meters corresponding to the portion of the road to be covered by each adjacent property owner.
For owners whose plot runs alongside the road for a length of 10 meters will have to pay for an area of 30 square meters, namely: 10 m × 3 m × 61,773 FBu = 1,853,190 FBu.
The portion located on the other side of the road will be covered by the relevant property owner, using the same calculation method.
The State will cover another portion by providing machinery and, if necessary, building bridges and culverts.
For a plot of 20 meters, the contribution will be 20 m × 3 m × 61,773 FBu = 3,706,380 FBu. For a plot of 30 meters, it will amount to 30 m × 3 m × 61,773 FBu = 5,559,570 FBu.
A bank account will be opened at the neighborhood level, along with a sub-account intended to collect contributions from the residents of a given road’s neighborhood, with each person paying according to the calculations corresponding to their plot.
Nijimbere explained that each neighborhood will have a committee, and each road will also be equipped with its own committee.
Three people will also be designated on each avenue to monitor the use of the collected funds.
Work can begin once the contributions have reached an amount deemed sufficient, corresponding at minimum to the contribution needed for an avenue of 300 meters in length.
The Minister specified that the funds intended for the works can only be released after validation by the avenue’s committee, through the three people designated to ensure monitoring.
Construction is scheduled to begin not later than November 2026 throughout the 42 Communes of the country.
