Rwanda-Tanzania border to expand

KIREHE- The construction of the One Stop Border Post (OSBP), at Rusumo along the Rwanda-Tanzanian border has commenced.Upon completion the border is expected to accommodate the increasing trade volumes.Goods from the Tanzanian port of Dareselaam enter Rwanda through the Rusumo border post.The construction of the Post consists of three phases; including the construction of Rusumo Bridge, building of a new two kilometer road between the border facilitiesand putting up the actual OSBP facilities.The government of Japan, through Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) financed the project through a grant scheme for both countries.Each country received Rwf1.5bn for the project.The project chief engineer, Hitoshi Kameda, told The New Times, that the new facility will allow the border to cope with the increase of traffic.“The bridge will be long (80m) and wide (10.5m) enough…sidewalks of 1.5m on both sides, so traffic congestion will no longer be an issue,” he said.In 2008, a joint inspection by experts from Rwanda and Tanzania was conducted and recommended the construction of a new two lane bridge at the downstream side of the existing bridge.Hitoshi Kameda, however, said that the project was over three and a half months behind the schedule.Honere Munyanshongere of Rwanda Transport Development Agency (RTDA) said that the new facilities were timely, adding that the existing bridge was constructed 40 years ago.He noted that the Rusumo Bridge was not only important to Rwanda and Tanzania, but also to the whole of Great Lakes Region.“The existing bridge is out of date and capacity…it can only safely carry 32 tonnes gross vehicle weight (GVW), as opposed to current traffic vehicles with GVW of up to 60 tons,” he said.He added that the existing border posts in both countries were small, lacked warehouses and inadequate parking “The modern OSBP is timely…it will be important for traffic safety at the border and across the bridge”.RTDA and TANROADS of Tanzania signed a contract with Daiho cooperation for the execution of the construction works of new Rusumo international bridge and OSBP facilities.

National

Rwanda-Tanzania border to expand