weekly review

Towards the end of the week, news of other grenade attacks broke where it was reported that at least 16 people were wounded in two simultaneous grenade attacks in the city. One of the attacks took place in Kimironko close to the taxi park, while the other occurred at Kinamba on the way to Gisozi Genocide Memorial Centre. The grenades exploded during the heavy rain Thursday evening at around 19 hrs. It was not clear by press time who was behind the attacks, but Police says investigations are ongoing. President Paul Kagame underscored that the country has the capacity to guarantee that the peace and security Rwandans have enjoyed for the last 16 years is not threatened. He was reacting to questions from journalists during the monthly press conference at Urugwiro Village. “A security incident will happen anywhere in this world, even in developed modern systems and countries where they have resources and capabilities,” Kagame said. It was also reported that a team of officials led by Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, John Rwangombwa, went to Washington DC, where it briefed the president of the World Bank and the US Treasury on the progress that the country has registered. The team, met with World Bank president Robert Zoellick, who they told that Rwanda registered 5.5% economic growth despite of the current financial crunch. According to statement availed to The New Times by the Rwandan Embassy in Washington DC, the Minister expressed Rwanda’s gratitude towards the bank’s constant support in implementing her developmental projects, most especially infrastructure Prime Minister Bernard Makuza called upon local leaders in the Eastern Province to push for sustainable development.The Premier said this while addressing local leaders who gathered at the Eastern Province headquarters in Rwamagana to assess the progress in performance contracts. It emerged that some of the cosmetics from DRC that contain hydroquinone were suspected to cause skin cancer. Rwanda Bureau of Standards (RBS) announced the decision to implement a series of anti-dumping measures to arrest the number of dumping cases in the country. RBS is a watchdog that controls the quality and standards of products to suit those required internationally. One highlight of the measures is the establishment of the institute’s presence at each border post. According to Mark Cyubahiro Bagabe, the Director General of RBS, staff will inspect products from the neighboring countries. RBS plans to introduce pre-shipping inspection on products that come from outside the East African Community (EAC). Residents of Kamenge, Nyabugogo accused their local leadership of siding with the proprietor of Kigali Cement Company in shelving the pollution problem caused by the company’s operations. The residents, who talked to The New Times, said that they have informed the local authorities but so far no solution had been provided. They alleged that the factory gives off lime dust and the heavy machinery used has led to cracks on the walls of their houses. The residents also accused the factory staff of dumping waste water from the factory into their sources of water. The President inaugurated the opening of a US$37m (Rwf 21,154,750,000) state-of-the-art processing plant owned by Inyange Industries Ltd in Masaka-Kicukiro District, During his speech President Kagame said that the government, as a mediator to link citizens and the investor, will do everything to ensure that the ‘processes’ runs smoothly. Kagame added that the government’s role is to ensure that the whole process works to the benefit of everyone - helping citizens deal with the challenges in producing what the factory requires while at the same time helping investors gain from their investment. Ends