The revival of Air transport was on the menu of the Cabinet

BUJUMBURA May 30th (ABP) – The Cabinet met on Wednesday May 26, 2020 under the chairmanship of Head of State Pierre Nkurunziza in Gitega, the political capital of Burundi with seven items on the agenda including the file relating to the  Air Burundi in-depth audit extended to SOBUGEA, according to the press release from the general secretariat of the government.

The latter indicates that as part of the revival of air transport, the Burundi government has committed to mobilize the necessary funds and take other accompanying measures aimed at the recovery of Air Burundi. To proceed with a restructuring / recovery of Air Burundi, it is proposed in particular the prior merger of Air Burundi and SOBUGEA given the similarity of the activities of those two companies, as well as the mobilization of the funds necessary to guarantee the recovery of air transport activity. As a strategic partner, you will have to look for a solid and experienced airline to participate in the capital of the company and its management. If the strategic partnership is chosen, the government would hold at least 51% of the shares and the partner should not exceed 49% of the shares. After discussion and debate, the Cabinet adopted the idea of ​​the merger of those two entities and set up a team which will propose concrete actions in connection with the implementation of this merger. That proposal will be presented to the Cabinet within one month.

The Council also analyzed the decree bill on the transfer of land for industrial use to Gérard Gateferi, presented by the Minister in charge of Regional Planning. The statement said that Mr. Gérard Gateferi had submitted his request to sell a 12 hectare site located in Kiyange, Buterere zone in exchange for his land of the same area located in Maramvya in the Buterere zone. In 2016, in fact, his land in Maramvya was allocated by the Ministry in charge of Town Planning to Adrien Ntigacika for the establishment of the FOMI factory without any compensation being given to Gérard Gateferi. At present, the compensation procedure with the land exchange formula has been initiated and the competent structures have given a favorable opinion for that compensation. After discussion and discussion, the Cabinet approved the principle of compensation but asked to ensure beforehand the authenticity of the documents held by the interested party. In addition, the interested party will have to present the project he wants to carry out on this land for the government to verify that it is in conformity with the vision of the government regarding the development of the city of Bujumbura.

The Cabinet then analyzed the decree bill granting a license to search for rare earths and associated minerals in the Minago-Murago perimeter with an area of ​​149 km2 in favor of Ferox Minerals Conformity (FEMICO) SPRL, presented by the Minister in charge of Mines. After analyzing the project, the Cabinet adopted it with a few corrections.

A Note on the strategies of institutional and organizational reforms of REGIDESO was also analyzed. The statement said that despite the efforts of the government since its creation in 1990, the performance of REGIDESO has never been fully satisfactory. In fact, the distribution losses of drinking water and electricity remain high and the average annual recovery rate is only 66%. Other challenges stand out. Faced with the dysfunctions that can be observed, an institutional and organizational reform of REGIDESO recommended through the various measures proposed for its recovery and the improvement of its performance constitutes an emergency. At the level of that institutional and organizational restructuring of REGIDESO, the Note indicates that it is planned to separate public services from drinking water and electricity to allow the performance of each sectoral institution. It is in that context that a group of consultants is at work to conduct an in-depth analysis leading to the separation of these services. As an accompaniment to that process of institutional and organizational reforms of REGIDESO, it is proposed to set up a steering committee at the highest level to allow results in line with the government’s strategic guidelines. After discussion and debate, the Note’s proposal was adopted.

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