MUSANZE - Traders in Musanze town have called on the government to speed up the completion of a water channel which has been under construction for over five months, claiming that the delay had brought business to a standstill.

The construction of the channel, which began in March, started with the digging of trenches along the town’s streets, and underground pipes traversing feeder roads that lead to the main road.

"Our businesses have been paralysed; cars and motorcycles cannot cross over, our clients have resorted to shopping elsewhere,” Joseph Manishimwe, one of the affected shop owners said.

The delay in the completion of the works is reportedly due to a feasibility study carried out prior to the construction which did not put into account the commercial centre.

"The delay was caused by a poor plan we were given. We discovered it could not be implemented especially in the commercial centre,  what I am doing now, is not in line with the contract we signed because there has been a lot of modifications,” said Christopher Hanezezwabake, of ECOMARU, which was contracted to construct the water channels.

"Our shops have been disconnected from the road for the last five months, the road from Gisagara, has been blocked for over three months. We request the government to sort out this problem,” Felicien Ndayambaje, another businessman said.

When contacted, Musanze District vice mayor, Jerome Mugenzi, said that the district has given the contractor up to the end of August to complete the work or have his contract terminated.

"The district is doing everything possible to sort out this problem, we have paid the required amount of money to the contractor to speed up the construction…the delay can be attributed partly to the weakness of the contractor, and mistakes made in the feasibility plan by the engineers,” Mugenzi said.

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