Works on City bus terminal finally resume

The long standing dispute regarding the architectural designs between Kigali City Council and developers of the Downtown Project have been resolved and construction works that had stalled are slated to resume soon. The multi-billion facility that is supposed to be set up at the former headquarters of Kigali Central Police, will include a public commuter terminal and mega commercial complexThe first phase of the $200m project, the terminal, was supposed to have been completed earlier in March. However, there was no activity at the construction site currently as it had stalled due to several changes raised on the plan.The New Times understands that the project developers recently convened a meeting together with city officials, which put an end to the dispute.The meeting was also attended by popular Ugandan tycoon, Sudhir Ruparelia who is one of the proprietors of the project.Speaking to The New Times, Sekoko Hatari, another co-owner of the project, confirmed the development saying the construction work is set to resume this week. “We have given a go-ahead to NPD Cotraco to continue with the construction works and we also last week signed a memorandum of understanding with KCC on how the construction would progress,” he said.According to the project developers, KCC had wanted developers to construct towers, a move that was contested by the architects saying it was risky to construct towers next to a bus terminal. KCC officials say that the project’s architectural designs were in contravention of the new Kigali City Master Plan.“The architects have now cleared us to continue with the construction after several modifications on the designs as they had advised,” Hatari added. Hatari said the changes only affect the buildings, the other parts of the project like the terminal will remain as originally designed.He disclosed that it will take seven years to complete the whole project.On the project’s sustainability, the city of Kigali Mayor, Fidele Ndayisaba, said the city authorities will be monitoring the construction activities.“Because of the signed agreements between us the developers, we expect the new developments go smoothly as required and as KCC we will be following up every step of the project’s development,” Ndayisaba said.The project, set on a seven hectare piece of land, will include shopping malls, a plaza and different hospitality facilities.

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Works on City bus terminal finally resume