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Transports
AA / Kinshasa / Pascal Mulegwa
The World Bank announced on Wednesday budget support of $250 million for fundamental economic governance reforms and $500 million to strengthen transport and connectivity in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
“These two operations represent enhanced engagement and dialogue between the DRC and all levels of the World Bank Group. This dialogue has allowed us to redefine and take our partnership to a new level, which – we hope – will benefit the more than 90 million inhabitants of the country”, declared, in a press release, Jean-Christophe Carret, World Bank country director for the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The signature of the two financing agreements was carried out on Wednesday between the Minister of Finance Nicolas Kazadi and the international financial institution.
“The return of budget support following more than fifteen years is a sign of the government’s commitment to strengthening governance, unlocking growth potential in key economic sectors and improving the living conditions of the Congolese people. “, declared Nicolas Kazadi.
He considered that this support “testifies to the warming of development cooperation with our technical and financial partners and should catalyze substantial flows of funding, enabling the government to meet the country’s immense development needs”.
The budget support will support the government’s reform agenda aimed at addressing key governance challenges in the areas of public finance, market opening and forest management, with the aim of accelerating green development. , resilient and inclusive, explains the bank.
In addition, “it will support transparency, as a prerequisite for strengthening government accountability, and the sustainable management of the DRC’s vast rainforest, which is essential for maintaining the livelihoods of the Congolese people and represents a carbon sink of planetary importance”.
The transport and connectivity support project is the first in a series of three projects aimed at providing safe, resilient and sustainable transport and digital connectivity in and between the Kasaï region (Centre) and the eastern part of DRC, while supporting the strengthening of sector governance.
The funds are expected to support the government’s ambitious program to better integrate the country by restoring the East-West road transport link, upgrading key transport infrastructure and improving digital connectivity.
“Specifically, it will finance the modernization and paving of 440 km of climate-resilient roads in the provinces of Kasai and North Kivu, while laying optical fiber infrastructure along the roads financed by the project”, specifies the statement from the institution.
Both projects will be financed by the International Development Association (IDA) of the World Bank.
Founded in 1960, it helps the world’s poorest countries by providing grants and loans at very low or no interest for projects and programs that stimulate economic growth, reduce poverty and improve the lives of the poorest.
On its digital portal, IDA claims to be among the leading donors to the world’s 74 poorest countries, 39 of which are in Africa.
Only part of the dispatches, which Anadolu Agency broadcasts to its subscribers via the Internal Broadcasting System (HAS), is broadcast on the AA website, in a summarized manner. Please contact us to subscribe.
the first commercial flight from Sanaa in six years takes off thanks to a truce
written by Alexandra Hartman Editor-in-Chief
Published on : 16/05/2022 – 09:51
A Yemenia plane took off Monday from Sanaa, the first commercial flight in six years from the capital of Yemen controlled by Houthi rebels, as part of a truce in the war that is ravaging the country.
A first in six years. A plane from the Yemenia company took off on Monday May 16 from Sanaa, the capital of Yemen controlled by Houthi rebels. Since April 2, the warring parties observe a national truce in the warwhich delivered the country to one of the worst humanitarian tragedies in the world.
The plane, which was heading for the Jordanian capital Amman, was carrying around 100 Yemeni passengers, most of them sick or elderly, AFP correspondents at Sanaa airport noted.
Houthi rebels took control of the Yemeni capital in 2014, sparking a bloody conflict with the recognized government by the international community and supported by a coalition led by neighboring Saudi Arabia, which intervenes in the Arab pas the poorest in the world to support loyalist forces.
This coalition controls all of Yemen’s air and maritime space, including the areas where the rebels have taken power, particularly in the North-West: only UN flights have so far been authorized at the airport of the capital since 2016.
The Houthis, close to Iran, accuse Riyadh of maintaining a “blockade” on Yemen, the Saudis saying they want to guard once morest arms smuggling and other clandestine activities.
But since April 2, the parties in conflict have observed a national truce which has given a rare glimmer of hope to a population of around 30 million, delivered to one of the worst humanitarian tragedies in the world. This truce provides, in addition to a relatively well-respected ceasefire, the gradual opening of Sanaa airport to commercial flights.
With AFP
In Italy, compulsory vaccination for over 50s and compulsory in transport
written by Alexandra Hartman Editor-in-Chief
Italians and foreigners over 50 will have until February 1 to be vaccinated, according to the new Italian decree of Wednesday January 5. From February 15, the “reinforced green pass” – that is, the vaccination pass active only following two doses of vaccine or recovery from Covid – will be activated.
→ READ. Covid-19: should vaccination be compulsory?
According to the text of the decree, henceforth all those who go to public buildings, postal services, banks and shops (except stores for essential products) are obliged to present an ordinary health pass – which can be obtained by being vaccinated. or by performing a serological test. From February 15, those who do not have the reinforced pass risk a fine of € 100.
The penalties provided for
Workers over 50 who report to their workstations without having the enhanced pass will have their wages suspended and will be considered “unjustified absences”. There will be no “disciplinary sanctions” and they will not lose their jobs until the presentation of the vaccination pass. Those who do not respect the ban will have to pay a fine of between € 600 and € 1,500. The health pass will be valid until June 15.
In Milan, FB (he prefers to remain anonymous), aged 73, is vaccinated, but says he is opposed to the vaccination obligation. “Today 90% of the Italian population is vaccinated. A minority of the unvaccinated will always exist, as is normal in a democratic country where freedom of choice reigns. I am in favor of an educational method to convince those who still doubt, but without provoking social hatred ”, he said.
Compulsory vaccination in transport
According to the new anti-Covid rules in force in Italy, from Monday January 10, only holders of the “reinforced pass” will be able to take public transport. This device considerably penalizes the inhabitants of some 80 Italian islands, forced by the lack of essential services such as access to medical specialists, to travel by ferry to reach the mainland. “All residents must go to dry land on a daily basis”, says Lory, 30, who lives in Forio on the island of Ischia. “Those who work, students, women who have to give birth, those who have to perform medical examinations not available on the island such as MRIs and scans: all have important reasons to join Naples or other cities on the mainland “, she explains.
Francesco Del Deo, president of the Association of Small Island Communes (Ancim), which represents 35 municipalities, and mayor of Forio, is seeking to open a dialogue with the government to prevent its administration from being penalized. In a letter to Prime Minister Mario Draghi, he deplored the new measure, which “Means to condemn to forced exile” residents of the islands.
Reached by phone, the mayor explains the logistical and social problems caused by the vaccination requirement in transport: “In Ischia today, only one vaccination center is functioning due to the lack of health personnel. In this center, there are only two doctors and two nurses. We therefore asked the president of the Campania region, Vincenzo De Luca, to authorize the hiring of medical students ”, explains the mayor.
Highlighting major issues
The mayor is in favor of vaccination. The data must be “Our guide to fighting the pandemic and they show that we need it”. But he asks that the inhabitants of the islands not be subjected to different treatment from those who live on the mainland. On the mainland, the unvaccinated can travel by car, on the island, they depend on the ferry.
→ READ. Covid-19: with the Omicron wave, cruises turn to ordeal
Francesco Del Deo is very angry with the antivax as a citizen, but as mayor and president of the Ancim, he explains that he does not have to make a difference and ensure all citizens, in an equal manner, their fundamental right. access to essential services, most of which are found on dry land.
This health pass obligation putshighlight the major problems concerning the education, health and transport of the islanders. “Why on the mainland do we have to pay some 1.50 € to travel 35 km by public transport, while on the islands, we pay 8 € for the same distance? asks the mayor. And why must school be so expensive for island children? Did you know that hospitals are only present on four of the 37 islands? And yet, before the pandemic, 40% of tourists from the Campania region came to Ischia, a good thing for the state’s finances. While in Spain and Greece the islands are considered invaluable cultural and financial resources, they are not in Italy ”, still regrets the mayor.
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