KIGALI - THE Minister of Infrastructure has commended the Chinese construction firm, China Road and Bridge Construction Corporation (CRBC), for the sufficiently speedy works on city roads ahead of the presidential inauguration.

The company was contracted to rehabilitate 36 km of city roads, and these include the main airport boulevard that stretches from Kigali International Airport to the city centre.

After meeting the company officials yesterday, Vincent Karega told The New Times that the company had had to extend its working hours to ensure that the roads were usable during the inauguration ceremony that was attended by over a dozen foreign Heads of State.

"We commend them for making the roads available for use,” the Minister said. He added that the company had agreed to maintain the speed to in order to bring forward the deadline specified in the contract.

According to the contract, the rehabilitation works were set to be completed in September 2011. However, Karega said that with the current speed, the roads will be ready before the end of March.

"They will undergo laborious work but they will benefit from having gained 6 months which they will use to work on other projects,” said Karega.

Explaining that the usual roads had a 2.5-3 centimetre layer, Karega said that the rehabilitated roads would be covered with two tarmac layers of nine centimeters, giving them a minimum life span of 20 years.

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