Huye District, in conjunction with the central government, has earmarked over Rwf4.5bn for the construction of roads in Butare town and surroundings areas, in order to give the town a new face, a district official has revealed.
Huye District, in conjunction with the central government, has earmarked over Rwf4.5bn for the construction of roads in Butare town and surroundings areas, in order to give the town a new face, a district official has revealed.
Jean-Marie Munyanziza, who is in charge of infrastructure at the district, told The New Times that the money will be used to build 8.2 kilometres of stone feeder roads in the residential area of Taba and 3.6 kilometres of tarmac roads around Icyarabu, the town’s central business district.
Activities to construct roads in Taba have started while works on Icyarabu roads are expected to begin mid next month. All works are expected to be completed within a period of six months.
"The roads will ease accessibility to the suburbs and decrease transport fares, as people will not be compelled to solely rely on motorcycles for transport. We expect minibuses to start commuting between the suburbs once the roads are completed,” Munyanziza said.
He also noted that the works are being executed under the district’s plan to modernize Huye town.
"You cannot think of a modern city without infrastructure. The refurbishment and construction of new buildings in the town needs to be supported by modern infrastructure,” Munyanziza observed.
Residents of Taba said that the construction work was long overdue, but the move will spur development. .
"Some of us have already started thinking of buying buses for local circulation and we hope other businesses will also be improved because of the new infrastructure,” said Reverien Karemera, a local resident.
"Transport from here to town will be very quick and cheap while the area will look nice and modern.”
Meanwhile, the district also plans to construct other roads in Ngoma and Tumba in an exercise that is expected to start next year, and will cost an estimated 1.7 billion Francs.
The roads that are being built in Taba and the central Huye town are part of the fulfilment of the promise made by President Paul Kagame during his visit to the district in March this year.
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