DR Congo Launches $600 Million Program To Revamp Rail Network
5/12/2011 6:17 PM ET(RTTNews) - The Democratic Republic of Congo launched a program worth $600 million on Thursday to revamp the country's aging and largely neglected railway network within a period of four years.
Mines Minister Martin Kabwelulu who is also serving as interim transport minister said at the ceremony that the revamping of the railway system will help "growth in the mining sector, the development of isolated communities, and the fight against poverty."
While the World Bank has agreed to provide $218.8 million for the four-year project, China's contribution of $200 million will come from the "minerals-for-infrastructure" deal signed between the two nations in 2009. The remaining amount will be funded by the Congolese government.
World Bank's Africa Transport Program Coordinator Pierre Pozzo di Borgo said the joint financing of the project "will improve the efficiency of both our investment and their investment and it will ensure Congo gets the best value for its money."
The maintenance of the country's colonial-era rail system had been neglected in recent years, mainly due years of misrule and conflict. The new project includes replacing or repairing damaged rail tracks as well as purchase of new locomotives and wagons.
A part of the fund will be used to pay wages to nearly 12,000 employees of the national railway company SNCC who have not been paid for more than four years. Also, staff over retirement age will be given the option of retiring after they are paid pending salaries and and pension contributions settled.
The lack of proper roads in DR Congo has forced a vast majority of its population to depend on boats for transport across the country's numerous rivers and lakes. Revamping the country's rail system is expected to provide an alternate and cheap mode of transport for the country's impoverished population, most of whom cannot afford airfares.
by RTT Staff Writer
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