The Director General of the Road Maintenance Fund (FER), Eng. Soteri Gatera, has announced that they would start training road contractors in an effort to improving their skills.

According to Gatera, the training will focus on how best to build roads that can last. This was revealed yesterday during a meeting called to approve a stakeholders’ operations manual for road maintenance held at Hotel Novotel in Kigali.

"We shall start a training program for all road contractors, especially those with no technical background, so that they can deliver good services,” Gatera said.

Gatera said that there are some contractors who do not know how to construct quality roads but with the training, all these inconsistencies would be eliminated.

Gatera explained that the training will also be focus on those who have no skills of road maintenance. He added that they will launch awareness campaigns over various media outlets targeting the masses to ensure that road maintenance and safety are prioritized.

Gatera explained that the manual would act as a guide for all involved in maintenance of the road network, including the National Roads Agency, Urban Councils, Rural District Councils, the Ministry of infrastructure and other stakeholders.

It also describes the policy and procedures relating to the maintenance of the public roads network in the country.

"We want the operations manual to be adopted and published in the National Gazette so that all stakeholders can use it as a guiding tool in their daily activities,” Gatera explained.

He noted that the adoption of the operations manual would help speed up all road maintenance and construction activities in the country.

Ends