Fast road

At the end of June, the Commonwealth Summit (CHOGM) took place in Kigali. More than 30 Heads of State met in Kigali. The Prince of Wales, Charles and Camilla, were also here as representatives of Queen Elizabeth. A great logistical challenge for a small country like Rwanda. And it all went well. No incidents.

In the run-up to the summit, Kigali paid a lot of attention to improving its infrastructure. Suddenly, bus shelters appeared everywhere. Many roads were given a facelift, holes in footpaths were repaired and shoddy construction sites disappeared behind metres and metres of canvas advertising Rwanda's tourist assets.

Perhaps the biggest challenge was getting the many roads -earmarked to ensure efficient flow of traffic during the summit- ready in time. Some roads were built, others were doubled in width. The latter also happened to a connecting road between the hill where I live and the next one. I never knew that road to be busy, but it is the fastest connection between the Presidential Palace and the Presidential Office. So, well, from a two-lane road to a four-lane road. In March, demolition of the houses and felling of the trees began. The road, which used to pass through a green, cool valley, immediately lost some of its charm.

As the deadline approached, the pressure on the construction companies increased. They worked day and night and frankly, it was impressive to see how fast the road was built. When I think of some of the public works in Belgium, the difference is stark. The last piece of asphalt, about 100 m, was literally put in a few hours before the start of CHOGM. There was also attention to detail: palms and flowers and plants were planted right away - in a hurry. That was about it. The piles of bricks and sand were removed and that was that.

Or was it? When I go jogging, I can see that the footpaths were not finished. The big gutters were not closed. In some places, the footpath runs directly into the ditch. Very dangerous in the dark. So what do the pedestrians do? They just walk on the right-hand lane. After all, the street is wide enough for that now.