The Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Authority (RURA) has unveiled a plan aimed at professionalising the water transport sector.

Under a partnership with the Rwanda National Police, RURA has trained 300 boat drivers in the first round of training countrywide.

"At the moment, a team from RURA and the Police is offering training to boat drivers. We want them to work professionally. There are driving schools for vehicle drivers, but there is none for water transport. That is why we work with the Police to deliver the training,” the head of transport at RURA, Emmanuel Asaba Katabarwa, told The New Times last week.

Katabarwa said boat operators should meet certain standards.

He said the move is in line with RURA’s guidelines governing water transport unveiled in August last year.

Emmanuel Butera, the director of waterway and air transport unit at RURA, said the second round of the 10-day training is targeting over 200 boat drivers.

Butera said the trainees will be awarded certificates, while those not trained will be stopped from operating on Rwandan waters.

At the moment, around 160 water transport operators are licensed countrywide, including those operating in cooperatives and a few individuals.

"We group operators into cooperatives in order to help them grow their business and ease monitoring,” Butera said.

Vedaste Nsabimana, a trainee from Karongi KOTRALAKI cooperative, said what he learnt was not completely new, but provided them more skills on what they were practicing unknowingly.

It made us feel confident and more professional, he said.

The training targeted licensed operators.

The Government plans to build at least seven docking sites on Lake Kivu to boost maritime transport in the Western Province, the Prime Minister announced in Parliament in July.

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