BURURI June 17th (ABP) – Burundi Prime Minister Alain Guillaume Bunyoni paid a visit on Tuesday June 15 to two construction sites of the hydroelectric dams of Jiji and Murembwe, a check on the site by ABP has revealed.
The first dam is being built on the Jiji River which separates Bururi and Songa communes, precisely on Muheka hill. The other dam is that of the Murembwe River which separates the Songa commune (Bururi province) and that of Buyengero in Rumonge province, built on Musenyi hill, also in Songa commune.
The actual construction works of the dam on the Jiji River have already started, the check by ABP revealed. For the dam built on the Murembwe River, works have not yet started as construction companies first started constructing the buildings that will serve as staff quarters and administrative blocks. They are also busy drawing a road of 38 km connecting the two power plants.
In an interview with the press, the Prime Minister said he was satisfied with the progress of the work despite constraints related to the Covid-19 epidemic, climate change and the bad behavior of some people living around the dam area who used the scam to benefit from much more compensation, which created disagreements between ORASCOM and AECOM, two construction companies.
Mr. Bunyoni thus asked those responsible for those companies to draw up a work execution schedule respecting the deadlines agreed with the government of Burundi and to work day and night to make up for lost time. He further urged them to respect environmental standards, establish good governance by regularly paying staff salaries and being in order with their contributions to insurance companies and the INSS. They are also called upon to establish responsibility for anyone who would be an obstacle to the normal progress of the work.
Note that the dam on the Jiji River will provide 33 Mw, while the one on the Murembwe River will provide 16.5 Mw.