BUJUMBURA March 22nd (ABP) – The rehabilitation works of national road N°3, Rumonge-Gitaza section over a distance of 45km has undergone modifications compared to the initial forecasts, according to the information note on the status of the rehabilitation work on that road, submitted to the Cabinet Meeting held on March 15, under the leadership of the Head of State, Evariste Ndayishimiye.
According to the explanations given, there is the rise in the water level of Lake Tanganyika since 2019, forcing the addition of costly elements of a port nature to protect the shore of Lake Tanganyika between Gitaza, Magara and Kagongo over a length of 8km, landslides which make it necessary to add stabilization works, the overflows of the rivers which make it necessary to enlarge structures and add others. The displacement of the networks installed in the rights-of-way by REGIDESO and BBS which has a cost on the part which has no problem, the works are in progress between Rumonge and Minago (20km). This is when the work on the Minago to Magara section (10km) has not yet started, except clearing pending the government’s decision on the financial gap, according to the same note.
Through the note, the government is asked to provide the project with the amount of 18,607,517,500 BIF to fill the gap and deal with unforeseen events that could be improvised such as landslides and take note of the restructuring of the project in 2 sections: 30km from Rumonge to Magara which will be rehabilitated by the SOGEA SATOM GETRA consortium and 15km from Magara to Gitaza which will be subject to a new resilience study. The Cabinet took the note into account and asked the Minister in charge of finance to take the necessary steps to make that amount available.
The Cabinet also analyzed the project to build a plant for the processing of mineral compound fertilizers of the NPK type on Jenda hill, Bugendana commune in Gitega province.
According to the Cabinet, the demand for fertilizers has steadily increased from 13,000 tons in 2013 to 90,000 tons in 2022, the company FOMI is unable to meet national demand on its own. The objective of that project is “to contribute to increasing soil productivity through the local production of quality fertilizers and formulas adapted to the requirements of the soil, according to the agro-ecological zones”. The project was approved by the Cabinet, which recommended that the product be of high quality; to involve technicians from the ministry in charge of agriculture and ISABU technicians to support the project.
The Cabinet also adopted the draft law amending certain provisions amending the law of September 25, 2007 on the organization of the national statistical system of Burundi. In that regard, the Cabinet made recommendations in relation to the bill, including: the submission of the bill to the national legislation service for grooming and translation into Kirundi, the establishment of a service responsible for statistics in each ministry.
The same Cabinet adopted the draft cooperation agreement between Burundi and Tunisia in the field of technological and industrial development, signed in Djerba in November 2022. It was on the sidelines of the 18th summit of La Francophonie on November 20, 2022. After discussions, the bill was passed with the recommendation to negotiate training grants in the mining sector.
The Cabinet also looked into the analysis of the note which sets the producer price of cherry coffee at 1,200 BIF per kg for this 2023-2024 campaign. After exchanges and debates, the Cabinet recommended instead, to review the costs throughout the chain from the producer to the sale of the coffee and set a more profitable producer price. The Cabinet recommended doing the same exercise for all other export crops.