DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO: New bridge to reconnect eastern DRC with cities as far away as Durban in South Africa

Record ID: 228187

  • Title: DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO: New bridge to reconnect eastern DRC with cities as far away as Durban in South Africa
  • Date: 29th November 2006
  • Summary: EXCAVATOR AND TRUCK LELOUX TALKING TO PEOPLE
  • Embargoed: 14th December 2006 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: Industry,Transport
  • Reuters ID: LVA26TADSM9NI8VSDNTZW6XB70WY
  • Story Text: The town of Kalemie, in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) was once a thriving regional centre, with a rail link that connected businesses in the town with cities across Africa. But, that was before the civil war that devastated the region, and a huge flood that destroyed a crucial rail bridge nearby.
    The previous Niemba Bridge, built by the Belgians in colonial times, lasted 91 years before being destroyed in 1997. The demise of the bridge was the final straw for any businesses in the area that had survived the civil war, and the region fell further into poverty.
    But, now there is renewed hope in the region as a new bridge is to reconnect Kalemie with other urban centres across Africa.
    Once again Belgium is paying for the construction. But 100 years on, it is the Congolese that will benefit, rather than a colonial regime.
    As part of its efforts to assist reconstruction in the DRC, the Belgian government is also rehabilitating almost 3,000 kilometres of road, carrying out maintenance work on 57 bridges and rehabilitating 165 km of waterways.
    "..All the metal materials were made in Belgium, transported to the Antwerp port, then carried by boat all the way to Dar Es Salaam, then again by truck, then train to Lubumbashi where it changed trains to come to Niemba," explained Evan Leloux, a technical expert for the Belgian Techinical Cooperation and manager of the Niemba bridge reconstruction project.
    Trains like this one, belonging to Congo's national railways, the SNCC (Society National des Chemins de Fers) once serviced businesses and individuals in Kalemie.
    Lubumbashi, Kindu and Kongolo were regular destinations with several trains running per week. Travel as far south as Durban south Africa was once possible across the Niemba Bridge spanning the Lukuga river just 89 kilometres from Kalemie.
    Since the destruction of the bridge in 1997 travellers have had to cross the river by foot in the dry season or makeshift ferries in the rainy season. Travellers had to wait hours, days or weeks for a connecting train to pick them up on the other side.
    The little commerce that still exists in the region, the production of maize and oil in particular, makes its way to regional markets via bicycle or is carried in basins, 200 kilos at a time.
    "People are working hard and suffering. People have to carry things on their heads from Kalamie, with babies on their backs, on their backs, then you need to get your goods across the river, and once across you need to carry the goods again to Lubumbashi, both men and women. We are really suffering, we get sick and there's no medicine, there are no schools, there is nothing here in Niemba. Now that the bridge is being repaired, we are very happy," says Faila Anastasie Kalonda, Chief of the Benze Area in Niemba.
    Humanitarian agencies operating in the region to assist the hundreds of thousands displaced by years of civil war have had to operate by air, costing agencies millions of dollars in plane and helicopter costs.
    Although preliminary surveys to rebuild the bridge were conducted soon after it was washed away, they were only acted upon in 2004, when the Belgian Technical Cooperation donated 1,400,000 dollars to complete the operation.
    Building began in April 2006, with the re-routing of the river and importing of over 200 tons of steel from Belgium. The manager responsible for overseeing of the project, Yvan LeLoux, explains the complicated logistics.
    Now, 200 Congolese staff from local building companies are racing to finish the work. Early rains in the region have made the work tougher.
    Once the bridge is finished, the SNCC will have to relay the rails across the bridge, using salvaged ties and tracks. The new bridge is estimated by Belgian engineers to have a 100 year life, hopefully outliving the last bridge that was built in 1906. And Congolese people in this remote region will once again have have a way of connecting with the outside world.
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