The Rwandan government has set aside US $113,000 for the Kigali Sanitation and Central Sewerage System, a first in the country. The funds, which will be in loan form, will be sourced from the African Development Bank (AfDB) in conjunction with the European Investment Bank (EIB). It has a five-year grace period and will be repaid over 25 years at an interest rate of 1%.
According to the Minister for Infrastructure, Claver Gatete, the project is comprehensive and will go hand in hand with the construction of other related infrastructure. This, he said, is inclusive of roads so as to prevent doubling back once the sanitation project is begun. That is, since pipes will be laid across the streets.
According to media reports, the first phase will see the construction of a central sewerage system that will collect waste from Gatenga Sector, Kicukiro District, Nyarugenge Central Business District (CBD) and Muhima Sector in Nyarugenge District. It will then carry the waste down to Giticyinyoni neighbourhood where a central waste treatment plant will be built.
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Upon completion, the plant will be able to process 12 cubic meters of waste per day. Moreover, the will also be a construction of an 86-kilometre sewer network. This will be supported by a 3.1 km trunk- main. The system comes as a relief to urban planners who have raised concerns about the septic tank system that is common in most of the houses in Kigali.
However, the project was met with some skepticism by some of the MPs who questioned the suitability of it to the city. MP Juvenal Nkusi spoke of new technology that incinerates waste, inquiring whether they should have looked into it instead.
Construction of the sewerage system will commence later on this year with the completion projected to be 2021.