(IMF/WB) The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA) have agreed that the Central African Republic (C.A.R.) has made sufficient progress and taken the necessary steps to reach the completion point under the Enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative. The C.A.R. becomes the 25th country to reach the completion point under the Initiative.

HIPC debt relief from IDA and the IMF amounts to US$207 million and SDR 17.19 million (US$ 26.77 million) in NPV terms, respectively. In reaching the HIPC completion point, C.A.R. also becomes eligible for further debt relief from the IMF, IDA, and the African Development Fund (AfDF) under the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI). MDRI relief net of HIPC assistance would lead to a nominal reduction of debt owed to IDA and the IMF by US$182 million and SDR 1.9 million (US$ 2.9 million) respectively. At the time of the HIPC decision point, C.A.R.’s debt was an estimated US$583 million in net present value (NPV).

To reach the completion point, the C.A.R. completed a number of measures aimed at preparing and implementing a national poverty reduction strategy and maintaining a stable macroeconomic environment. In addition, the authorities have made good progress in implementing measures in the area of transparency, structural reforms in the forestry and mining sectors, civil service reform, public debt management, social sectors and HIV.

Martin Petri, IMF Mission Chief for C.A.R., noted that “the authorities are to be commended for reaching this important milestone. Despite a difficult post-conflict environment, they have undertaken important reforms to reach the Completion Point for debt relief under the HIPC Initiative. Debt relief will reduce significantly C.A.R.’s debt burden and free up resources to finance spending in areas critical to meeting the Millennium Development Goals.”

“We are very pleased that the Boards of the Bank and the Fund have approved full debt relief for C.A.R. under the HIPC Initiative and MDRI,” said Mary Barton-Dock, World Bank Country Director for CAR. “This confirms C.A.R.’s commitment to improve governance, foster transparency in public finance and debt management, accelerate reforms in the forestry and mining sectors, and strengthen social programs, as reflected in the Completion Point triggers. These reforms are critical for fostering increased economic growth and improved living standards in CAR. My Fund colleagues and I congratulate the C.A.R. authorities on this achievement. At the same time we urge them to maintain momentum toward the goals of their national poverty reduction strategy,” she added.

Click here to read the full IMF press release

Four key indicators illustrating the extent of the Central African Republic’s development catastrophe:

• CAR ranks 178 out of 179 on the UN’s Human Development Index 2008, down from 171 the year before
• CAR ranks 180 out of 181 on the World Bank’s Doing Business Index, unchanged from last year
• CAR ranks 8 out off 177 on the Fragile State Index of the Fund for Peace, down from 10 last year
• Bangui ranks 214 out of 215 on Mercer’s Quality of Living Index, one before Baghdad

Highlights

• Over 1,000 displaced persons in Loura
• Bangui floods, thousands left homeless
• A week dedicated to fighting violence

Background and security

Loura – over 1,000 flee violence
200 households - more than 1,000 people – have been displaced following clashes between the 2nd and the 14th of June in Loura (30 km from Bocaranga in CAR’s North West). The fighting was between elements of the Popular Army for the Restoration of Democracy (APRD) and self-defence groups around Loura.

Most of the displaced have taken refuge at Bocaranga secondary school, emergency assistance is being provided there by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) with 200 shelter kits and non-food items (tarpaulins, cooking kits, mats, blankets, cans of jerry cans and soap). MSF-France has provided mosquito nets, soap as well as care for severely malnourished children. The Ministry of Public Health is taking responsibility for the vaccination of children.

Vakaga security – Bangui meetings
The Special Representative for the United Nations’ Secretary General for Chad Victor Angelo held a meeting in Bangui with humanitarian organisations working in Vakaga in CAR’s north east on the 19th of June. The aim of the meeting was to hear the concerns of humanitarian organisations in preparation for Mr Angelo’s meeting with CAR’s president which took place on the 22nd of June.

News

16th of June: Day of the African Child
“Call to accelerate child survival” is the theme of Day of the African Child this year. The day commemorates the massacre of children on 16 June 1990 in Soweto in South Africa, and aims to raise awareness of violence against children. With the support of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the day’s activities included games, skits, traditional dance and sports events in Bangui as well as in provincial cities such Kaga-Bandoro, Bria, Ndele and Bossangoa. Continue Reading »

A slideshow of our most popular photos on Flickr

You can find more of our pictures on our Flickr account. Most photos on HDPT CAR were taken by Pierre Holtz.

Highlights

• FACA and CPJP clash at Akoursoulbak
• Political bridge between CAR and the UN
• Response to polio cases in Paoua

Background and security

FACA and CPJP clashes
On the 12th of June, fighting broke out between the Central African Armed Forces (FACA) and the Convention of Patriots for Justice and Peace (CPJP) at the entrance of Akoursoulbak village 80 km north of Ndélé in CAR’s North-east.

A column of FACA vehicles came under fire in an ambush by the CPJP. According to the Central African authorities, the death toll is 3 on the FACA side and 15 on the CPJP side. FACA reinforcements have subsequently been deployed to the region as of the 14th of June to secure all exits from Ndélé town.

The Chairman of the CPJP’s political council Charles Massi has been held in detention in Chad for over a month, he is to be charged with the “attempted subversion of a country from neighbouring Chad” according to the Chadian authorities.

Self-defence group clashes with APRD
On the 9th and 10th of June, at the village of Kangatou 120 kms south west of Paoua, clashes took place between the Popular Army for the Restoration of Democracy (APRD) and elements of self-defence groups from Bilakaré village, about 20 kms from Kangatou in CAR’s North-west.

Some displaced people who had been returning to their villages in recent times in the region have now left their villages again. More than a hundred families fled to the city of Bocaranga from areas where there was fighting. These families have temporarily occupied the classrooms of Bocaranga high school.

News

Protection Cluster workshop
On the 8the and 9th of June, the Protection Cluster brought together national and international NGOs, public administration and representatives of displaced people for a workshop to re-frame the cluster’s objectives and reflect on a shared strategy of protection and government accountability.
Among the topics covered was the protection of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), the challenges facing the cluster as well as its role in humanitarian reform.

According to the representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Aminata Gueye, this workshop aimed to harness the two days’ ideas and energy in order to achieve greater results, given expertise and resources.

The representative of the Minister of State for Planning, Isabelle Gaudeuille, stressed the need to take into account all the needs and vulnerabilities of IDPs.

The recommendations of this workshop include conflict prevention, advocacy as well as capacity building for the safeguarding of human rights.

For more information: Charlemagne Kekou, UNHCR | (236) 75 02 38 77 | kekou@unhcr.org
Continue Reading »

Highlights

• UFDR under fire in Birao
• Former LRA members back in CAR
• World Environment Day 2009

Background and security

UFDR Birao base under attack
On Saturday the 6th of June at 6 a.m. Birao was at the centre of fighting between the Union des Forces Démocratiques pour le Rassemblement (UFDR, majority Goula) and armed members of the Kara community who sought revenge for the killing of one of their leaders by the UFDR.

When fighting ceased at 7 a.m., the Togolese contingent of the UN troops in Birao, the Mission des Nations Unies en RCA et au Tchad (MINURCAT), escorted members of NGOs based at Birao to their base on the outskirts of the town. The NGOs spent 2 nights at the base under MINURCAT protection.

All humanitarian operations have been suspended in and around the town of Birao. Reports indicate that 2 people from the Kara community died in the fighting.

Exchange of gunfire near Kabo town
On Friday the 5th of June, shots were heard for more than half an hour outside Kabo – no movements of population or impact on humanitarian activities have been reported.

Ndélé – reduction of humanitarian staff
Following tensions in town last weekend, NGOs in Ndélé town have reduced the number of humanitarian staff in the town.

News

LRA members back home in CAR
5 former members of Joseph Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army were repatriated back to the Central African Republic on 2 June, accompanied by 2 officials from the Disarmament, Demobilization, Repatriation, Reintegration and Resettlement (DDRRR) of the United Nations Mission in DRC (MONUC). On their arrival, the 5 former LRA fighters were placed under the protection of the Central African United Nations Peace Building Office (BONUCA).
The return of these 5 individuals was made possible when they disarmed voluntarily at the MONUC base and put themselves forward for voluntary repatriation.

For more information: Ms Aissatou Laba Touré, BONUCA | (236) 75 50 85 95 | tourea@un.org
Continue Reading »

(UN/IRIN) The Central African Republic (CAR) has been in the throes of a humanitarian crisis for more than a decade. Army mutinies, coups and attempted coups, rebellions, gangs that kidnap for ransom and, more recently, elements of Uganda’s notorious Lord’s Resistance Army have made life for civilians, especially in the north, extremely challenging, unpredictable, and very dangerous.

Click here for more IRIN reports from the Central African Republic

Highlights

• New rebel group in the North-east
• New UN Special Representative
• CAR-Chad-Cameroon humanitarian coordination

Background and security

MLCJ split to form MNS
At a May 23 general meeting at Am Dafok in the north-east, some members of Mouvement des Libérateurs Centrafricains pour la Justice (MLCJ) decided to disengage from the group and create a new movement, the Mouvement National du Salut de la Patrie (MNSP).

According to a press release, Hassan Ousman, the former spokesman for the MLCJ, was invited to assume the presidency of the movement and he accepted. The MLCJ is involved in the peace process and this split may have an impact on its next stages for example the Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) programme.

Insecurity in Vakaga in the North-east
Vakaga prefecture still has security problems. On 28 May, the office of an international NGO at Ouandja was attacked by armed men, the latest in a series of attacks since April of this year. These incidents have forced NGOs to suspend their activities on the ground.

The NGOs, with the support of the interim Humanitarian Coordinator, have appealed for help from Victor Angelo, the Special Representative of UN Secretary General in Chad and head of MINURCAT, in order to raise awareness about the rise in numbers of attacks in this zone which is under the MINURCAT mandate.

In response, Victor Angelo made a visit to NGOs in Bangui in order to discuss measures to be taken by MINURCAT to improve security conditions for humanitarian missions.

In Birao, the deployment of a new contingent of Togolese MINURCAT troops began on 28 May to replace the French contingent who finished their mission and left the country on 1 June.

News

Recycling of by-products from fish farming
On 25 May 2009, at the initiative of Echelle/APDRA (Association for fish farming and rural development in Africa), a field visit and discussion about fish farms fertilization took place in Bangui’s Saint Paul neighborhood. This meeting is part of a two-year pilot project to revive Central African fisheries which has been implemented since November 2007 by a consortium of NGOs: Solidarités, APDRA, AFVP, Echelle, and Caritas-Centrafrique.

The fisheries technical support team made up of experts from APDRA, Echelle and AFVP convened economic actors, fish farmers and the head of a private trucking company contracted by MOCAF brewery for the visit. In the next few weeks contracts supplying local fish farmers with spent grain (a by-product of beer production) are expected to be finalized. Spent grain is one of the best fertilizers, it efficiently increase both the quality and quantity of fish production.

The negotiation between 32 fish farmers (6 of them women) from 6 areas of Bangui, a businessman, and a representative of the Ministry of Water and Forests demonstrates a successful private-public partnership and a community-based development initiative in an early recovery context.
For more information: William Martin, APDRA | (236) 70 11 14 41 | william.martin26@gmail.com
Continue Reading »

Highlights

• Provision road for country reopened
• Strategic framework for Peace Building
• Turkish doctors treat 2,000 patients

Background and security

Free movement on National Road no. 1
A joint government and UN system delegation carried out a mission to Bouar (in CAR’s north-west) from 24 to 26 May to meet disgruntled former rebels who have blocked the main road.

These former rebels are in large part from the Front Démocratique du Peuple Centrafricain (FDPC) of Abdoulaye Miskine. They erected barriers to draw the attention of the authorities to their ongoing precarious situation, months after they turned their backs on the rebellion and committed to the Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR) process.

For several days, over one hundred trucks which supply the city of Bangui from Cameroon were held up at the town of Bouar.

This is the second such action carried out by demobilized soldiers; the first, several months ago, involved a threat to march on the city of Bangui.

The delegation was led by Cyriaque Gonda, Minister of State in charge of following up the recommendations of the Inclusive Political Dialogue (IPD) and National Reconciliation as well as Steven Ursino, interim Resident Representative for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and chair of the DDR steering committee.

Clashes between FDPC and army
Clashes took place on the 22nd of May at Keté Sido on the Moyenne Sido road, following the erection of barricades on the road by members of the Front Democratique du Peuple Centrafricain (FDPC). These barriers have prevented CAR’s army (FACA) from bringing supplies to the FACA base at Moyenne Sido in the north of the country.

Reports indicate one dead and several injured, with allegations that FACA made use of heavy weaponry.

News

Support for skills building
At the request of the Associations of Parents (APE) in Kémo prefecture in the centre of the country, a 3 month training course has started concentrating on good governance, accounting and self-assessment. The course is organised by the Central African Youth Missions (JEM).

With the help of partners such as the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives, this course brings together APE chairmen, general secretaries, treasurers and auditors, school principals and counsellors making up 512 participants or 64 per commune.

By the end of the course, participants will be able to take up their responsibilities in the association, avoiding conflicts and making a positive contribution to the well-being of the schools in their respective areas.

The aim of the course is “analysis and planning of self-financing for schools” with the emphasis on the potential for APE to contribute to well-run schools including construction and rehabilitation of school buildings. This course includes documentation and self-assessment carried out 3 months after the course in order to assess its impact.

«Participants at the course in Galafondo»

JEM is a national branch of the International Youth Mission. It has been operational in CAR since 2008 and has several projects underway including training courses for community groups on the “preparation of local development plans “and “principles of democratic governance and conflict prevention in groups ” which took place in Bangui. JEM is also running an “experiments in agricultural training” course in Bimbo and they are planning to build a maternity hospital in Bimbo commune as well.
For more information: Noel Kopéla, JEM | (236) 75 54 10 52 | jemcentraf@yahoo.fr
Continue Reading »

Highlights

• Member of government visits north east
• Electoral code revision planned
• CAP 2009 mid year review workshop

Background and security

Clashes between APRD and peulh cattle breeders
Between the 11th and the 16th of May, sporadic clashes took place on the Béboura-Boguila road between some elements of the Popular Army for the Restoration of Democracy (APRD) and groups of peulh farmers returning from pastures in Cameroon and Chad.

Humanitarian activities on this road have been disrupted by these incidents which happen every year at the beginning of the rainy season.

Minister visits North East CAR
The Minister of Territorial Administration and Decentralization, Elie Ouéfio, paid a working visit to the towns of Kaga-Bandoro, Ndélé and Ngarba in the north-east as well as to Daha in Chad.

This visit, the first of its kind by a government authority, also included a meeting with the humanitarian community of Bamingui Bangoran with the aim of contributing to the restoration of peace and stability in this region.

News

CAP 2009 mid year review workshop
In Bangui on Friday the 15th of May, a workshop was held to review the progress of the Coordinated Aid Programme (CAP) 2009. This workshop enabled humanitarians from UN agencies, national and international NGOs to review the socio-political and security context and to re-examine humanitarian strategy for the rest of 2009.

Participants reviewed the implementation of the Inclusive Political Dialogue (IPD) and humanitarian activities. The following observations were made:
- Increase in humanitarian needs ;
- Limited humanitarian access to certain areas, particularly during the rainy season ;
- Weak response due to low level of funding.

« Participants at CAP 2009 review workshop »

Various working groups were formed to reflect on current and future trends at the end of the sessions, the following areas were selected as priorities: health, water and sanitation (WASH), protection and education.

Taking into account the enrolment rate of children in education after the “Back to School” campaign, education has been identified as a priority sector for increasing and improving the quality of teaching as well as parents’ contribution towards schoolbooks.

Participants also proposed that early recovery become a cross-cutting theme in the same way as gender and HIV / Aids.

Participants also agreed on the need for a revision of the CAP taking into account the time and relevance of projects according to new strategic priorities.
The contingency plan will be updated according to the latest worst-case scenario, examining political and security trends in the region as well.

“Topics covered today don’t signal the end of this debate”, signalled Jean-Sébastien Munie, the head of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). “These conversations will continue within the clusters”.

For the interim Humanitarian Coordinator Mai Moussa Abari, “This session has been a focal point for all participants, it comes at a delicate point in a time of the international financial crisis. The aims have been laid out, now for the response plans”.
Continue Reading »

Highlights

• Attack on ICRC vehicle in the north-east
• Official opening of 11 medical centres in Nana-Gribizi prefecture
• Agricultural fair held near Bangui to boost sales

Background and security

Attack on the Birao – Am-Dafock road
On Tuesday 5 May, armed men ambushed and stole the vehicle of a team from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

The incident happened on the road between Birao and Am-Dafock on the Sudanese border, 12km from Birao as the team was heading out of town.

The men ordered the team out of the car and drove off with the driver, who was set free several kilometres further on. Apart from the stolen vehicle, the team and the driver are safe and sound, and the ICRC is continuing its activities in CAR as normal.

Attack on NGO vehicle north of Ndélé
On Friday 8 May a group of armed men attacked a team from an international NGO in the Saint-Floris national park on the road between Ndélé and the north-east.

The men shot into the air before targeting their clearly marked vehicle, which was hit several times but without injury to the occupants.

News

Food for schools to boost education
35 schools with 5,047 students have each received food aid provided by the ‘school canteen’ programme being implemented in the Markounda area by the NGO Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) with the support of the Paoua sub-office of the World Food Program (WFP).

In the Paoua area, a further 4,000 pupils in 120 schools have received the same food aid via the Italian NGO Cooperazione Internazionale (COOPI) and the WFP sub-office.

The objective of these school food programmes is to improve the attendance at classes and reduce the rate of abandonment, to facilitate access to primary education and to reduce inequality in attendance between boys and girls.
For more information: Callixte Kayitare, PAM | (236) 72 20 59 17 | callixte.kayitare@wfp.org
Continue Reading »

Highlights

• Inter-community tensions in Birao
• Hope for displaced people in Bokayanga
• Improved humanitarian access to 137,000 people

Background and security

Clash between ECOFAC and farmers
In the afternoon of 30 April in Gordil in north-east CAR, two farmers arrived at the water-point of the Central African Forest Ecosystem Program (ECOFAC) with their cattle. This was taken as a provocation by certain elements of ECOFAC.

There followed an armed altercation of more than two hours between ECOFAC, the UFDR and the local population on one side, and the farmers on the other.

Many people turned up at the ECOFAC base armed with knives, guns and even a rocket launcher.

Calm returned by 3.30pm after the UFDR had successfully driven away the farmers.

No injuries were reported by MSF-Holland as a result of this clash, and as it occurred at the outskirts of the town there was no population displacement or destruction of property.

Inter-community tensions in Birao
On the same day in Birao in the north-east, tension mounted following the arrival of an armed group of UFDR militias.

Eight days previously, the body of a young man of the Kara tribe had been found between Delembe and Serghobo, to the south of Birao. According to the local population, a member of the predominantly Goula UFDR was responsible for his murder.

Subsequently, the Kara community had brought threats against Sheikh Tidjiane, the traditional chief of the Goula community, and the mayor of Birao refused to let the sheikh pass through the town.

After mediation, the sheikh was escorted through the town by the UFDR and the Central African Armed Forces (FACA) as far as Am Dafock on the Sudanese border. The tensions in Birao have subsided.
Continue Reading »

Highlights

• Kabo-Moyenne Sido road controlled by FACA
• Call for MINURCAT reinforcements
• BBC back on FM in Bangui

Background and security

FACA bases on Kabo-Moyenne Sido road
On Wednesday the 22nd of April, the Central African armed forces (FACA) attacked the positions of the Front Démocratique du Peuple Centrafricain (FDPC, Democratic Front of the Central African People) of Abdoulaye Miskine on the Kabo-Moyenne Sido road. By the time fighting had ended, the FACA had gained control of the road and set up several bases.

United Nations Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) flights to Kabo were suspended as a result although humanitarian missions resumed within a few days after the fighting ended.

The situation is still precarious in the area, with 3,000 residents of Kabo town now living in the bush. Between 2,000 and 3,000 people who were living along the road at the centre of the fighting have also fled from their homes into the bush.

MINURCAT calls for reinforcements
The Mission des Nations Unies en République Centrafricaine et au Tchad (MINURCAT, the UN Mission to Chad and CAR) is made up of 2,425 soldiers as of the 22nd of April. Reinforcements are needed, according to Edmond Mullet, Under Secretary General for Peacekeeping Operations. MINURCAT is supposed to have had a gradual increase in its force from 2,085 soldiers on the 15th of March to 3,845 at the end of June in order to be at full operation with 5,250 soldiers by the end of 2009.

Addressing the members of the UN Security Council, Mr Mullet stated that «we are unfortunately obliged, at the present moment, to proceed with certain re-adjustments and will only reach the ceiling of 5,200 soldiers if member states make military helicopters and maintenance facilities available. ».

Fernand Poukré-Kono, CAR’s permanent representative at the Security Council added, « unless these problems are resolved, there will be a deterioration in the humanitarian situation in the region.»

News

Strengthening the media for the elections
A 3 day workshop on media and the elections started on the 22nd of April, bringing together electoral commissions and media representatives from various countries in the central African region.

The aim of the workshop was to strengthen the role of the media in the democratic process in the region, where several countries are heading towards the urns : Congo, Angola, Equitorial guinea and Burundi in 2009, CAR in 2010 and Cameroon in 2011.
Continue Reading »

BBC Afrique celebrates official launch of new FM relay in Bangui, Central African Republic

BBC Afrique is celebrating the launch of BBC 90.2 FM in Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic, with special programming, events and training courses for local broadcasters.

On Friday 24 April 2009, a special day of programmes and features, dedicated to the Central African Republic, will be broadcast from Bangui.

The morning and evening flagship news and current affairs programmes, BBC Matin (06.00 GMT) and BBC Soir (18.00 GMT), will be broadcast live from Bangui as will a special edition of the debate programme, L’Afrique En Direct.
Continue Reading »

Highlights

• Paoua – killing of leading cattle breeder
• Bangui – birth certificate gives access to schooling
• Mbaïki – hope for 960 flood victims

Background and security

Assassination of Soule Garga in Paoua
The president of the National Federation of Cattle Breeders (FNEC) in Paoua, Soule Garga, was killed on the 14th of April by members of the l’Armée Populaire pour la Restauration de la Démocratie (APRD, the Army for the Restoration of Democracy) near Paoua market.

APRD president Jean Jacques Démafouth stated that he « firmly condemned this hateful act which tarnishes the image of the APRD ». Laurent Djim Wei who was until the 14th of April the spokesperson for the APRD has been relieved of his functions and replaced by Bertin Wafio Tchébo, according to Mr Démafouth.

The humanitarian community, who knew Mr Garga well and worked in close collaboration with him, expresses condolences to his family.

Kabo attack
3 a.m., 18th April, Kabo town - forces from the Front Démocratique du Peuple Centrafricain (FDPC, the Democratic Front of the Central African People) of Abdoulaye Miskine launched an attack on the positions of the Forces Armées Centrafricaines (FACA, the Central African army) in CAR’s north.

Fighting ceased at 7 a.m. and the town is now under the control of the FACA. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in Kabo is looking after the wounded from the attack.

A large proportion of Kabo’s population fled the town following the fighting.

Permanent Military Court underway
The 2009 session of the Tribunal Militaire Permanent (TMP, the Permanent Military Court) started on Wednesday the 15th of April, lasting till the 24th of April – the court is holding its hearings at the Beal camp in Bangui.

Thirty soldiers will appear at the court in dozens of cases involving theft of arms, abandonment of positions, violence and arbitrary detention.

On the 22nd of April, the court will examine the case of police chief Sama who died on the 6th of April after an operation by members of the Presidential Guard.

News

5 millions Euro for sanitation
The French embassy and the Central African government signed an agreement worth 5 million euro on the 14th of April. Minister Sylvain Maliko signed for the Ministry of Planning, the Economy and International Cooperation while Ambassador Jean-Pierre Vidon represented France. The agreement will fund sanitation works in Bangui.

These High Intensity Labour Works - Travaux à Haute Intensité de Main d’œuvre (THIMO) - will allow THIMO phase 4 to proceed, involving the construction of almost 8 kilometres of gutters, dredging of 2.5 kms of existing gutters and the continuation of the rehabilitation of the pavement on Independence Avenue from the cathedral up till Port Amont.

Following THIMO 1 in 1995-1998 which involved sanitation rehabilitation in Kpetene, THIMO 2 between 1998 and 2000 for Malimaka and Mamadou Mbaïki, THIMO 3 from 2000 to 2006 for the neighbourhoods of Ngou Ciment, Yapele, Bacongo and Ouango, THIMO 4 is addressing the sanitation of the water basin in the city centre in order to channel rainwater towards the river.

It’s expected that these works will prevent flooding in the city centre and reduce the population’s exposure to water-borne illnesses and malaria. The project will also give a helping hand to small and medium sized businesses in the public works sector as well as distributing income in the neighbourhoods involved which will supply the labour.

For more information: Jean Louis Pouninguinza, Planning Ministry | (236) 75 50 64 84 | jlpouninguinza@yahoo.fr
Continue Reading »