Kinshasa: Demolition of illegal buildings erected along the railway line in Masina

Kinshasa, June 15^th,  2025 (CPA).- Illegal buildings erected along the railway line in Masina, a municipality in eastern Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, have been demolished on Sunday during an operation carried out by the town hall and the National Transport Office (Onatra), according to administrative sources. ‘I am aware of this demolition operation. Onatra had come to warn all those who have built along the railway line to clear the area because the train line need to be restored, which is why this weekend we had to start removing all those who had built on state-owned land,’ has declared Joseph Shiku Katumba, burgomaster of Masina. « The State prohibits building along the railway line. It is the law and it must be respected. That is why we have asked everyone who has built along the railway line to leave the site. We do not have the power to sell or dispossess people from state-owned land. A deadline had been given to the occupants to vacate the site, and now that the deadline has expired, the town hall has taken action, » he has added. The burgomaster of Masina has taken this opportunity to urge his constituents to support the Congolese State in certain decisions for the good of the population. The same operation has taken place in Ngaliema, a municipality in the west, where houses and buildings have been destroyed along Ngaliema Bay on Saturday Jun 7^th, two (2) days after the announcement of the provincial minister in charge of the environment, cleanliness and beautification of the city.