Africa-Press – Rwanda. The contractor who won the tender to build the Kigali Centralised Sewerage System has failed to fulfill his contractual obligations, Minister of Infrastructure Dr. Jimmy Gasore told Parliament on Tuesday, March 17.
Construction works had been scheduled to commence in June 2025. The system will include a 92-kilometre network that will channel wastewater from areas including Kigali, Nyarugenge, Muhima, and Gitega to a treatment plant in the Giticyinyoni area.
In its initial phase, the network will be capable of transporting wastewater from approximately 208,000 households.
The wastewater treatment plant at Giticyinyoni is expected to have the capacity to process 12,000 cubic metres of liquid waste per day.
Gasore stated that the contract period has ended, and the contractor is currently in an extension period that will conclude at the end of March.
“The project execution is not at a good stage because the contract ended on February 5. The contractor was given an extension period which ends in March. It is expected that in April, a new contractor will be sought or other measures will be taken because the contractor did not deliver as expected,” he said.
He explained that the project is designed to collect wastewater from areas around the city centre, including Serena Hotel, Marriott Hotel, Mille Collines Hotel, Muhima neighbourhood, Rugunga, and Poids Lourd Road, and channel it to Giticyinyoni.
The treated water will be released into the environment, while the sludge by-product will be used for organic fertilisers and energy generation.
In March 2025, the City spokesperson, Emma Claudine Ntirenganya, said expropriation had been completed, noting that a large portion of the system did not require expropriation.
During the same period, WASAC Group spokesperson Robert Bimenyimana confirmed that funding for the project had been secured.
The first phase of the project will cost more than €96 million and is expected to serve the city’s Central Business District (CBD).
Construction of the sewerage system was initially planned to begin in June 2019 but has been delayed for years due to the lack of a contractor, among other challenges.
Kigali City will eventually have three main centralised sewage systems, following the division of the capital into three catchments: Nyarugenge, Gasabo, and Kicukiro.
The Gasabo sewage system will treat wastewater from areas including Gacuriro, Kagugu, Nyarutarama, Kibagabaga, Kinyinya, Remera, parts of Kimironko, Kimihurura, Kacyiru, and surrounding areas that drain into the Karuruma site, where the treatment plant will be constructed.
The Kicukiro sewage system will treat wastewater from parts of Remera, Kimironko, the industrial park, Masaka, Gikondo, and other areas that channel wastewater toward the Kanombe and Masaka wetland areas.
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