Contacts: Washington: Aby Toure: 202-473-8302
akonate@worldbank.org
Cotonou: Sylvie A. Nenonene (229) 21 30 5857 snenonene@worldbank.org Nadiath A. Dende ndende@worldbank.org WASHINGTON, June 26, 2008 - The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors today approved an International Development Association (IDA) additional credit to support and strengthen the activities of the Second Decentralized City Management Project (PGUD-2) in Benin. This additional financing, amounting to a total of US$40 million (approximately CFAF 17 billion), will make it possible to strengthen the impact of the first project by increasing the number of people who will have access to paved roads and will receive protection from periodic flooding. More specifically, the additional financing will go toward the construction of 9.6 kilometers of roads and 10.8 kilometers of drainage works in the three main cities of Benin, namely, Cotonou, Porto-Novo, and Parakou. This additional financing will benefit 106,000 people who will be provided with access to roads and 76,000 people whose neighborhoods will no longer be prone to periodic flooding. According to Franck Bousquet, the PGUD-2 Team Leader at the World Bank, “The additional work to be performed will have an impact on the quality of life of the people targeted and will help optimize the expected benefits of the investments underway. In fact, the people of certain neighborhoods in the three cities targeted (Cotonou, Porto-Novo, and Parakou) currently face major problems when flooding occurs. Such situations leave them isolated, adversely affect their health, and greatly curtail their access to social services and economic activities. Indeed, it is important to be able to take into account the impact of natural disasters when infrastructure projects are being prepared. Lastly, it bears noting that the use of labor-intensive construction techniques when this projected additional work is being performed should generate employment on the order of 467,800 man/hours of labor; the latter being an important objective also.” It should be noted that the PGUD-2 was launched on March 8, 2006, with initial financing of US$35 million. The primary development objective is to expand access by the inhabitants of the main cities in the country (Cotonou, Porto-Novo, and Parakou) as well as a number of secondary cities (Abomey-Calavi, Lokossa, and Kandi) to infrastructure and basic services. The project is also aimed at capacity building within the technical and financial units of local administrations, with a view to bolstering the technical and financial resources needed to ensure the maintenance of the urban equipment and infrastructure put in place. Activities conducted to date include mainly: (i) rehabilitation of basic urban infrastructure; (ii) community participation and integration; and (iii) capacity building in communes in the area of municipal management. The PGUD-2 is headed by the steering committee (CPS) in the Ministry of Urban Affairs. Work is performed under the oversight of SERHAU-SA and AGETUR-SA. The expected closing date of the project is December 31, 2010. ### For more information on the World Bank’s activities in Benin, please visit: http://www.worldbank.org/benin For more information on the World Bank’s activities in Sub-Saharan Africa, please visit: http://www.worldbank.org/afr For more information about this project visit: http://web.worldbank.org/external/projects/main?pagePK=64283627&piPK=73230&theSitePK=322639&menuPK=322673&Projectid=P109209 |
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