Evaluation of Public Participation in Environmental Impact Assessment of the New Bugesera International Airport Project in Bugesera District, Rwanda.

Abstract

The need for effective public participation in development projects has been widely recognized due to the benefits gained from such involvement. However, public participation is frequently reported ineffective. This prohibits the environmental impact assessment of various projects from reaching the intended goal of safeguarding the environment. The study adopted a mixed methods approach to assess the level of public participation during the environmental impact assessment of the New Bugesera International Airport project. Questionnaires and interviews were employed to gather the primary data whilst reports together with literature were explored to obtain secondary data. The results of the study revealed that overall there was some level of public participation. The respondents were generally aware of the project and were provided with opportunities to participate and share their concerns. However, the research described this level of participation as “tokenism” whereby the public is given opportunities to participate with limited powers to actually influence the decision-making process. The research concludes that, for future effective public participation, members of the public must be informed early on the proposed project and their concerns should be put into account to influence the decision-making process of the project to avoid mistrust and also for the proponent to attain the sustainability of the project. The research recommends the establishment of feedback channels for public satisfaction, continuous training activities for environmental impact assessment consultants to learn and improve on various recognized weaknesses such as lack of social learning and proper participation guidelines. Finally, the research calls for the responsible organizations to ensure the orderly operation of participation exercise, for future effective public participation in the environmental impact assessment of projects in Rwanda. Key words: Public Participation, EIA, NBIA Project, Bugesera District, Rwanda.