Construction of Kigali Convention Center likely to be completed in May
If good weather persists, the physical structure of the Kigali Convention Center and Hotel should be completed by May 1, 2016.
The announcement was made by Rwanda’s Finance Minister, Amb. Claver Gatete while appearing before parliament yesterday.
Rwanda had to contract Turkish engineering firm-Summa to complete construction of the multimillion dollar ($300million) Kigali Convention Centre, after kicking out the Chinese company that was initially contracted but delayed the project for more than four years.
“The works that have been done by the Turkish company indicate a progress in the project’s completion. They will hand over the structure mid-April and by May 1, we will be good to go” Gatete said.
The four-year delay increased the cost of the project from the initial estimate of $300 million due to additional costs incurred by government mainly in form of accumulated interest fees as the project has mainly been financed through external borrowing.
The government spent $120 million from the proceeds of its $400 million Eurobond to repay an outstanding loan secured from Citibank, NA London branch.
The Turkish firm was contracted in June, 2015, on condition that the project is completed by the end of March 2016, failing which it will attract penalties.
The new Kigali conventional center, located on Kacyiru Roundabout, along the Kigali International airport road, will house a five star hotel with 292 rooms, entertainment facilities and conference halls with a capacity of handling over 2 500 persons.
Read MorePolice Orders Public Transporters to Install Speed Governors
The Rwanda National Police (RNP) department of Traffic and Road Safety has yet again reminded public transporters to speed up the installation of speed governors to further prevent road traffic carnage especially those that are caused by high speed, and to avoid likely penalties that might arise of defiance.
In an interview, Supt. Jean Marie Vianney Ndushabandi, the spokesperson of the traffic department, said that although some transporters have “honoured their own set deadline,” there are others that have either made no attempt or are yet to programme the installed devices to 60 kilometres-per-hour maximum speed, as per the gazetted of February 26, 2015 Presidential Order.
Article 2 of the Presidential Order, stipulates that “any public or goods’ transport vehicle must be equipped with speed governors to control maximum road speed.”
The same article sets exactly one year from the date of publication of this directive, for all vehicles in question to have installed the device, in this case February 26 being the deadline.
“After several meetings between transporters and other concerned institutions like the ministries of Internal Security and Infrastructure which is also charged with transport, RNP and RURA, including that held last November, the transporters themselves set December 15, 2015 (one month) for all vehicles commuting to the countryside to have fitted these devices while those operating within Kigali take another extra month up to January 15, 2016,” Supt. Ndushabandi explained.
This varied period of installation, he said, was meant not to obstruct the transport sectors or delay movement of people.
“We call upon transporters, who are yet to implement this directive, to do so before the deadline because failure to do so in the set timeframe attracts penalties,” he said.
“This directive was put in place to reduce road carnage and protect people’s lives that otherwise would be lost due to high speed. There was ample time to comply and implement it and we are keen on this deadline because we have to ensure the security of people while on roads.”
Supt. Ndushabandi revealed that a team has been instituted to conduct an inspection exercise to see if all the transporters have “complied with their set target and the Presidential Order.”
Read MoreONATRACOM to be dissolved into RITCO Ltd
Defunct Rwanda national transport company Onatracom is set to be dissolved into a new and independent transport operation company -Rwanda Interlink Transport Corporation Ltd (RITCO), according to the ministry of infrastructure
Dr. Alexis Nzahabwanimana, the state minister for infrastructure, made the revelation while presenting a report on the state of transport to the Rwandan parliament, this January 28, 2016.
“We believe that the Onatracom has come of age and has been in gross losses. By changing its status to a private company we expect an improved efficiency and solution to its troubles in the past” Dr. Nzahabwanimana said.
The new developments indicate that government will have 53percent of the shares in Ritco while private public transporter cooperatives-Rwanda Federation of Transport Company (RFTC) will have the remaining shares.
To boost the new company operations, Rwf11billion has been set aside as initial capital from shareholders, and at least 163 new state of the art buses will be purchased in the process according to the agreement between stakeholders.
Last year, the Rwanda government had announced plans to place loss-making public transporter under private managers and terms of reference for the international tender to hire the company to manage the failing public transporter were underway.
Onatracom, Rwanda’s state-owned public transport company is to be placed under the care of private managers in the last attempt to rescue it from stubborn losses averaging Rwf35 million monthly.
Troubled history
Created in 1970s as state-owned public transport enterprise, Onatracom was given a social mission to operate in rural routes and other routes which the private operators cannot operate because they are not profitable.
The company is also used to transport people during celebrations of national days such as Independence Day and Liberation Day. It was also tasked to provide other services such as production of car number plates, vehicle technical inspection, repair and servicing of government vehicles and management of taxi parks across the country.
Onatracom was entitled to budgetary support from the government and this would supplement the revenues from the transport services and other services for the company to continue operating as a monopoly in transport services and other services.
However, most of these services have been stripped off of Onatracom and it is only left with transport services. Production of car number plates has been shifted to the Rwanda Revenue Authority (RRA), vehicle technical inspection has been moved to the Rwanda National Police (RNP), repair and servicing of government vehicles is now open for competition by the owners of private garages, and management of taxi parks has been decentralised to local administration such as districts.
Since 2008, the government has also cut the budget support to the company. As a result, Onatracom started experiencing cash flow problems in 2009.
By the time the government intervened in mid-2011, the company had accumulated over Rwf2 billion in arrears to staff, suppliers, and the revenue collector.
The weakening of Onatracom, however, can be attributed to reluctance of the government to reform it and lack of strong management.
In 2007-2008, government gave Onatracom new buses to help improve its cash flow. However, the government failed to follow up and change the law if it wanted to see Onatracom operating profitably. The new buses were also poorly managed and after two years, few were still operating. The management also failed to deal with competition from the private sector.
Read MoreChina Road Company given ultimatum to restore Lake Kivu
Nyamasheke district officials have asked China Road Company & Bridge Corporation to remove all the debris which was dumped in Lake Kivu as soon as possible, otherwise measures will be taken against the Chinese company owners.
The company allegedly dropped big stones at the Kariba site along the lake shores while doing its construction works. The stones are believed to be a potential danger to boats, water sources and a danger to human life and water organisms.
A study conducted by Francis Kayumba, an official of the ministry of natural resources last August 2015, showed that several activities along the Lake Kivu shores including stone quarrying activities had impacted on the water bodies in the areas and action needed to be taken.
Nyamaseke Mayor, Aimée Fabien Kamali says that the notification has been given to the Chinese company and they have to remove the stones and reclaim the land that was damaged along the shores during the quarrying activities.
“We have hope that they will positively respond to the demand of the district, so that the lake lifespan is maintained and the damage is minimized. If they don’t, then we shall take necessary measures” Kamali said.
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