After being marred by delays, preparatory work for the long-awaited Kigali Centralized Sewerage System is in its final stage, with construction now scheduled to start in July, according to Water and Sanitation Corporation (WASAC). The utility said the facility which is expected to improve sanitation and sewage handling in Kigali, will begin once the final design is approved by mid-July. The announcement was made on Thursday, June 26, during a session with the Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC), where WASAC officials responded to concerns raised by the Auditor General’s report for the financial year ending June 2024. ALSO READ: Construction of Kigali’s central sewerage system to start March The sewerage system, expected to cost $63 million (approx. Rwf90 billion) according to information provided by WASAC on Thursday, includes the construction of a wastewater treatment plant at an area called Giti Cy’Inyoni in Kigali Sector, Nyarugenge District. The facility will have the capacity to treat 12,000 cubic meters of wastewater per day, serving both households and major commercial buildings. Kigali Centralised Sewerage System is one of the key projects under the Rwanda Sustainable Water Supply and Sanitation Program (RSWSSP) which, among other expected outcomes, will address the lack of a centralised treatment facility for sewage, according to WASAC. ALSO READ: Chinese engineering firm embarks on Kigali sewerage system project The report of the Auditor General for the financial year ended on June 30, 2024, pointed out that on July 12, 2023, WASAC started a project for the design, construction and commissioning of the sewerage system. However, it showed that the project execution was affected by delay in the contract for the design, construction and commissioning. The design phase was supposed to take six months, a period that was expected to end on February 12, 2024. However, even in August 2024, the approved design was only 20 per cent complete, it indicated. Providing an update during Wednesday’s PAC hearings, Vital Nshimiyimana, Sanitation Infrastructure Planning Manager at WASAC Development – a subsidiary of WASAC Group – said that the project study is now at 80 per cent. Project delay attributed to design complexity and environmental considerations The sewerage system will span an 89-kilometre network across Kigali, with a 3-kilometre main pipeline of 1.2 metres in diameter directing wastewater to the treatment plant, Nshimiyimana said. WASAC indicated the importance of working with Rwanda National Police for traffic management, as the installation of pipes may disrupt road movement to some extent. It also talked about the need to collaborate with Rwanda Transport Development Authority (RTDA) for integrating sewer works with road infrastructure. Among the factors for the delay, Nshimiyimana cited the need to reposition infrastructure to align with wetland restoration projects by Rwanda Environment Management Authority (REMA), especially moving a pumping station by over 200 meters at an area called Ku Ndagara in Nyabugogo. Technical consideration, awareness Munyaneza told parliamentarians that the project is more complex than clean water systems. Wastewater flows, he said, require gravity-fed infrastructure, meaning engineers must, in some cases, dig up to six metres deep to connect existing septic tanks to the new system. This precision work is required to avoid system blockages or the need for expensive pumping solutions. He partly attributed the delay to extensive stakeholder consultations with owners of major buildings like the National Bank of Rwanda and Hôtel des Mille Collines, among others, so that they understand it and how it may affect them. “We spent a long time in the campaign to ensure that people who are found in the project implementation area understand it,’ he said.
