Rwanda Housing Authority has digitized the building Permit Management Information System (BPMIS) to fast track construction. BPMS allows online applications for building permits; it shortens the time required for one stop centres to assess, approve and report on permit applications and efficiently provide feedback on sites and plots inspections reports the New Times.
BPMIS is expected to enhance transparency in the issuance of building permits since it will contain clear instructions to follow and it will help keep the data that would otherwise be scattered across district offices in the country.
The new online system will be in Kinyarwanda, French, and English while people will be paying for its services online through Irembo portal. It will reduce the cost of doing business because most submissions for permits will now be made online.
“This is really a good answer; it’s a milestone for us. This is an answer that the Government has just given us in line with easing the cost of doing business. It will tremendously cut costs that engineers and architects were making in the process to submit their applications,” said The Executive Secretary of the Engineers Institute of Rwanda, Bonny Rutembesa
The software is a World Bank Group-owned open source application that was successfully deployed in the City of Kigali and is now being extended to secondary cities in the countryside.
The system will be rolled out in the country’s six designated secondary cities of Musanze in Northern Province, Rubavu and Rusizi in Western Province, Muhanga and Huye in Southern Province, and Nyagatare in Eastern Province.
