Kigali, 21 March 2019: Minister of State in charge of Transport, Hon. Eng. Jean de Dieu Uwihanganye officiated the opening of Consultative Workshop on advocating for enhanced Environment, Social, Health and Safety (ESHS) Practices in Road Construction Sector. The workshop was organized by the Ministry of Infrastructure (MININFRA) in partnership with World Bank in the framework of improving Environmental, Social, Health and Safety (ESHS) performance across transport projects countrywide.The workshop brought together relevant stakeholders including Government and Non-Governmental agencies, the academia and construction industry.

Speaking at the opening of the workshop, Minister of State in charge of Transport,Hon. Eng. Jean de Dieu Uwihanganye said that “the objective of the transport sector is to gain modern infrastructure with cost effective and quality services, while ensuring sustainable economic growth and developing eco-friendly, safe and seamless integrated multimodal transport system for passengers and goods both at national and regional level”.

“Transportation activities, on one hand, support increasing mobility demands for passengers and freight, while on the other hand, they create ESHS externalities”, Uwihanganye said.

The main objective of the workshop was to foster and promote better ESHS performance among industry players by increasing the level of ownership and commitment to the ESHS agenda.

“Today’s agenda will focus on understanding ESHS issues that impact projects and identify interventions that are most effective at achieving improved implementation performance, among others”, he emphasized.

The Consultative Workshop on advocating for enhanced Environment, Social, Health and Safety (ESHS) Practices in Road Construction Sector was organised in a bid to provide a platform for collaboration and continuous engagement with key stakeholders at a national level and the construction industry. The workshop provided guidance and recommendations for demonstrating increased industry commitment to better managing risks and elevate ownership of ESHS performance in the preparation of bids and in the execution of civil works contracts.