Parliament repairs to end in April 2008

The ongoing rehabilitation and expansion works on the Parliamentary Buildings will be completed by April, the Assistant Chief of Mission of RheinRuhr International (RRI), Eng. Cyprien Gatorano, has said. RRI is the consultancy firm supervising the construction activities by Thomas & Piron and Fair Construction contractors, who are jointly contracted to rehabilitate the buildings.The Parliamentary Buildings are being renovated and partly re-built following damages caused by mortar shells and bullets during the 1994 war and Genocide, which saw the fall of the genocidal regime. The contractors started work on January 6, 2006 but failed to beat the November, 2007 deadline allegedly due to lack of some construction materials, supposed to be imported from Europe. Thereafter, Thomas & Piron and Fair Construction contractors asked for extension of their contract to April 30, 2008 to complete the renovations. During an interview early this week at his offices in Kimihurura, Gatorano said that the contractors now have adequate time to finish the remaining work. “We are in the last stages of the construction process; if we get all the materials we need, we will beat that deadline,” Gatorano said. He however noted that there could be some delays again if the windows and doors, expected to be brought in by the European Union (EU), are not delivered on time. He said the EU promised to deliver the windows and doors from Italy early this month. The materials hadn’t been delivered to the site by press time. “We have advised the contractors to double their work rate if they are to beat the new deadline,” Gatorano said He said rehabilitation work on most of the buildings has been completed. The contractors are also constructing a new block that would house the offices of the Senate President and Secretary General to the Senate. They are currently renovating Senate plenary session’s block and constructing a perimeter fencing around the buildings. Lack of enough space at the Parliamentary Buildings forced the Senate to rent offices at Telecom House in Kacyiru since it started operations in October, 2003, leaving the Parliamentary Buildings to members of the Chamber of Deputies.Ends

National

Parliament repairs to end in April 2008