Japan to repair Bangui-Douala road

Japan's ambassador to the Central African Republic (CAR), Nabuyoshi Takabe, said on Monday that the Japanese and the CAR governments were "considering" the resumption of repairs on the main road linking the capital, Bangui, to the Cameroonian seaport of Douala. The government-run Radio Centrafrique reported that Takabe made the announcement after a meeting with CAR leader Francois Bozize. "Our conversation focused on the project of paving National Route 3 to Cameroon," Takabe told the radio. The Bangui-Douala road is vital for the economy of the land-locked CAR, as it links the capital to Douala, through which most of the country's imports and exports are channelled. A Japanese road construction company, Kajima, suspended repairs on the road following the outbreak of fighting between rebel and government troops in October 2002. The conflict ended when Bozize ousted then president Ange-Felix Patasse in a coup on 15 March. Massive looting and destruction of property in Bangui followed the coup, and Kajima was among those companies whose property was either looted or damaged. Meanwhile, the Chinese ambassador to the CAR, Wang Sifa, has announced the resumption of bilateral cooperation programmes between the two countries that were suspended due to the fighting. These include the construction of a 20,000-seat football stadium in Bangui and the construction of 100 low-cost apartments in a Bangui suburb, which were targeted by looters after the coup. Sifa's announcement comes after a US $2.5 million donation by China to the CAR, which enabled the government to pay April salaries for its civil service.