Travellers in areas shunned by profit-oriented private transport operators following the collapse of state-owned Onatracom could find relief in a new transport company expected to start operations in a year, the government says.

Parliamentarians recently approved a Bill setting up Rwanda Interlink Transport Corporation Ltd (Ritco), the public-private-owned transporter expected to serve all the routes previously plied by the soon-to-be dissolved Onatracom.

Ritco, the Rwf11 billion joint investment of Rwanda Federation of Transport Co-operatives (RFTC) and the government, would, according to the Ministry of Infrastructure (Mininfra), be equipped with modern-time buses and effective business management to do Onatracom’s job much better.

“That’s what we agreed with the investor, and we are fully equipped to be able to cover all the routes plied by Onatracom and many others that we can compete for,” said Dr Alexis Nzahabwanimana, State Minister in charge of Transport.

The development follows years of transport headaches for residents in Rwanda’s far-flung areas, especially after Onatracom collapsed under rampant mismanagement and embezzlement.

READ: Plans under way to sell struggling Rwandan parastatal to private transporters

The non-operational and highly indebted Onatracom, now awaiting dissolution, used to ply inaccessible routes that private operators often avoid. As a result, a number of remote and rural routes were abandoned, leaving majority Rwandans without affordable transport means while at the same time exposing them to isolation and chaotic travel situation.

Private transport operators on their side avoid taking such routes due mainly to poor state of roads and other issues blamed for pushing the operation cost high, hence making it hard to get return on investment.

Affected most are residents from Rwanda’s remote rural mountainous districts namely Nyaruguru, Karongi, Ngororero, Rutsiro, Nyamasheke, Gakenke and Nyamagabe, among others whose only transport means were Onatracom buses.

Many are now left with no choice other than walking tens of kilometres to get to nearby markets, hospitals and other vital facilities, and at times hundreds kilometres to reach towns and other destinations. But this affected the poor the most, for the able can resort to occasional and very expensive taxi moto (commuter motorcycle) transport.

“We’re required to pay moto operators more than Rwf6,000, ten times the price of Onatracom buses, to get to the main road,” said Athanase Bakunzi, a trader who lives 59km from the national road in Ngororero District.

“Travelling to Kigali alone costs me over Rwf16,000 whereas I used to spend Rwf6,600 only.”

ALSO READ: Rwanda's travel chaos in holiday season

Leonard Ngarukiye, a resident from Musanze district, and 100 other passengers, mainly students returning to school, were over the weekend stranded for hours at the Nyabugogo bus terminus as they could not find public transport to Birambo in Karongi District.

“We’ve waited for six hours,” said Mr Ngarukiye.