Substandard construction materials sneaked into the country through porous borders pauses a major threat to housing standards if not dealt with.

Rwanda Standard Board (RSB) says, the smugglers find a way of sneaking in construction products which are rejected at border entries.

The listed construction materials smuggled into the country include reinforcing steel bars, electrical cables, roofing sheets, water pipes and cement as well as home-made substandard bricks.

According to the outgoing director general Mark Cyubahiro Bagabe, who spoke to Rwanda Today a day before he was transferred to Rwanda Agricultural Board in last week’s reshuffle, the smugglers work in cohorts with locals to sneak goods into the country.

“After blocking these goods from entering the country, smugglers sneak the substandard construction products in using porters across the porous borders,” Dr Bagabe said.

The practice is common on the Rusumo border, where customs and standards officers often reject substandard construction goods from Tanzania.

He added that the quality of houses built using the said materials are not strong enough.

“We have had cases where buildings collapse during construction or during heavy rains and this could be a direct result of substandard construction materials,” he said.

The western border with Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is also notorious for smuggled goods transported by porters on foot.

Antoine Mukunzi, the division manager of national quality testing laboratories services of RSB said that Rwanda Revenue Authority officials arrest smugglers daily in an ongoing operation to end the smuggling of materials.

Alphonse Hishamunda, the acting director of the risk reduction and preparedness unit, Ministry of Disaster Management and Refugee Affairs, also attributes the fire cases over the past two years on substandard materials.

“We can’t measure to what extent substandard construction materials contributed to the fire disasters but they surely played a role,” said Mr Hishamunda.

Apart from smuggling in goods, RSB found that some importers bury substandard construction materials under standard ones which are used to dupe border supervisors to believe that the whole consignment is of standard quality.

RSB is partnering with Uganda and Kenya bureau of standards to test and crack down on substandard goods flooding the market.