Tears, heartbreak as houses near railway line demolished

Dar es Salaam. Residents said they were “heartbroken” to watch their houses razed to the ground yesterday to make way for the construction of the $1.2 billion standard gauge railway line.

On the Dar es Salaam suburb of Buguruni, Reli Asset Holding Company (Rahco) demolished more than 250 houses as hundreds of residents watched helplessly -- sorrow engulfing the dusty air.

The affected houses were built within the 30-metre reserve on both sides of the railway line.

Suddenly left homeless, Ms Fatuma Abadallah, 53, told The Citizen that she had been a resident there since 1964. She didn’t see this coming.

“It was better had our houses been swept away by floods. That way we would have understood it was a natural calamity,” she said.

Tears flowing down her cheeks, Ms Abdallah added: “Our government is not only destroying our houses; they are breaking our hearts as well. This is torture; they will kill us with pain.”

She said she only heard about the demolition this morning, and had to quickly get what property she could out of her house.

Some of her belongings were destroyed in the process.

The authorities say all the residents had been given notice, well in advance. Rahco public relations officer Catherine Moshi said the demotions were above board, a countrywide exercise to demolish all houses built within the reserve area. “The home owners will not be compensated, and no house built in the railway reserve area will be spared,” she said.

“We gave them ample time to evacuate; we started issuing public notices to the residents since last year, and even yesterday (Friday) we passed around the areas advising them to leave the railway reserve.”

There will be compensation for those whose houses were not in the railway reserve, according to the Rahco official.