The Auditor General has faulted authorities in the eastern province for failure to follow up on the implementation of some public projects.
Some projects had either stalled or remained idle, Obadiah Biraro said last week as he and the Chairperson of the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC), met leaders from the seven districts that make up the eastern province.
They also disclosed that at least Rwf3.7 billion projects under the Lake Victoria Water Supply and Sanitation programme as well as Kirehe community-based watershed management project in Nyagatare, Kayonza and Kirehe districts have stalled.
As a result, the delayed implementation was limiting the impact of these projects on the communities they are meant to benefit.
The Auditor General also said that two other projects worth Rwf1.8 billion in Nyagatare and Bugesera districts have stalled due to poor contract management.
He cited the Rwf1.06 billion valley dam project designed for irrigating more than 400 hectares in Mahama, Kirehe District as one of the projects that stalled.
Another water and sanitation project in Nyagatare remains idle, he said.
PAC Chairperson, Jean Chrysostome Ngabitsinze, faulted some district leaders for diverting public resources
"How could anyone take a car belonging to a project that is yet to begin and use it to transport water?” he wondered.
In Ngoma, Ngabitsinze said, a 3-star hotel worth more than Rwf3 billion was under construction for more than five years and has remained idle since its completion.
"When they (Ngoma District officials) came to public hearing in the parliament in September, they told us that in less than two months the hotel would be complete and have it operational, to which we said, ‘well done,’” he recalled, adding that the official kept promising that the hotel will be opened "in a few days”.
Ngoma district officials, he added, have not followed the latest recommendations of the Auditor General’s report.
Cyriaque Mapambano Nyiridandi, Ngoma District vice mayor in charge of Economic Affairs, said they were in talks with potential investors to manage the hotel facility.
"The talks are going smoothly and we hope to get the right investor who will manage the hotel. Four investors have already expressed their interests, we are working with Rwanda Development Board (RDB),” he said.