France grants US $973,155 to train fire-fighters

France has signed a grant agreement of 700 million francs CFA (US $973,155) to train fire-fighters in two cities in the Republic of Congo, an official at the French Cooperation office in Brazzaville told IRIN on Thursday. The deal, signed on Tuesday, will also cover the purchase of fire-fighting equipment for the capital, Brazzaville, and the second largest city, Point Noire. Brazzaville's only fire station was destroyed in 1997 during political violence that affected public and private buildings. Since then, neither the capital (pop 950,000) nor Point-Noire (pop 500,000) has been served by fire-fighting services. The only fire-engines in the country are at the airports of the two cities, managed by the multinational African civil aviation air navigation agency, ASECNA.