Announcement of Highway Project in Rwanda to Receive Twenty-Five Million US Dollars IDA Credit on May 24, 1982

,;t; .:. ' " • ' .. . "' I ~ u . -·-··---·"_ _____j[_ :·'t .IMMEDIATE R'ELE ASE 1 ' . . World Bank ·1818 H Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20433, U.S.A.• Telephone: (202) 477-1234 !DA NEWS RELEASE NO. 82/76 Contact: Pushpa Schwartz Maiy 24, 1982 (202) 477-5306 HIGHWAY PROJECT IN RWANDA TO RECEIVE $25.9 MILLION IDA CREDIT A section of a major highway in southwestern Rwanda will be generally upgraded and paved with assistance from a SOR 23.3 million ($25.9 million) credit th~ ~nternational Development Associatfon {IDA) announced today. The 53.5 kilometers of road between Butare and Kitabi will be improved under a $30. 1 mi 11 ion project to be supported by I DA, the Horl d Bank's aff i 1 i ate for concessionary lending, and also by a contribution of $1.5 million from the United Nations Development Programme. i'h is sect ion of highway is part of the Butare-Cyangugu route, a major road linking the country's second largest city Butare to the agricultural region near Cyangugu. At present the highway is an earth road with poor driving condi- tions which is often impassable during the annual eight-month rainy season. Up- grading the road to a two-lane a_l 1-weather standard wi 11 provide year-round use, not only for the farmers but also for the region's agricultural projects, for exploitation of the Uyungwe forest, and for the cement plant near Cyangugu. A second component of the project is the provision of materials and supp] i es for routine maintenance of the Ki·ga 1 i-Gatuna road in northern Rwanda. Temporary maintenance procedures will keep the highway passable until a study to be financed under the project can determine the causes of its rapid deterioration and the type, scope, and cost of restoration works. The Rwandan government has decided to introduce weight regulations and establish an enforcement mechanism to prevent overloading. Under the project, it will install two fixed scales at Gatuna and Kagitumba on the Ugandan border and will provide mobile scales for spot checks on the country's entire network. This is the fifth highway project in Rwanda to receive IDA funding. A credit of $15 million for a fourth project was provided in 1977 for road improve- ment and maintenance. The IDA credit for the fifth project is for SO years, including 10 years of grace; it carries no interest but bears a small annual service charge of 0.5% on the undisbursed balances of the credit, and 0.75% on the disbursed balances. NOTE: IDA credits are denominated in SDRs (Special Drawing Rights), which are valued on the basis of a "basket" of currencies. The U.S. dollar equivalent of the SOR amount of the IDA credit reflects the exchange rates existing at the time of negotiation of the credit. lli' ',' -. ,, . . . • . •