BUJUMBURA February 1st (ABP) – The Minister of Infrastructure, Equipment and Social Housing, Mr. Dieudonné Dukundane, hosted a press briefing on Monday, January 30, 2022, during which he presented the half-yearly achievements of his ministry, a check by ABP revealed.
Indeed, among the major achievements of that ministry, works and projects in the road sector come first. Thus, Mr. Dukundane indicated that the construction works of the national road RN18 (Mwaro-Kibumbu-Gitega), the national road RN16 (Bururi-Gakuba) and the road leading to the international airport Melchior Ndadaye have been completed. He added that the ministry also notes the continuation of the construction works of the Bujumbura-Rumonge-Nyanza Lac (RN3) road, with a length of about 150 km which has been subdivided into three sections.
Nevertheless, he pointed out, the minister regrets that the work on the Nyanza Lac-Rumonge section) has experienced a long delay, specifying that in December 2022, the ministry issued a formal notice to demand the replacement of one of the experts of the control mission. In that section, work is still at 7%, he said.
For the Rumonge-Gitaza section, he pointed out that the works are at 22%. Mr. Dukundane also clarified that the budget initially planned to build that road can no longer be sufficient following the landslide and the rising waters of Lake Tanganyika, which occurred after obtaining the financing. To deal with that situation, he said that the government of Burundi is looking for partners to have additional funding necessary for the construction of a 15 km section.
For the Gitaza-Bujumbura section, the construction works will be financed by the World Bank to the tune of 120 million US dollars. With the same financing, it is planned to develop and expand certain tracks in the city of Bujumbura.
During the last six months, the ministry has also plugged potholes in the city of Bujumbura and on the Bujumbura-Gitega Road, with an area of 80,000 square meters, he pointed out.