Residents raise funds to repair damaged public buildings

Residents of the northern Central African Republic (CAR) province of Nana Gribizi have begun raising funds to rebuild administrative buildings that were damaged during the October 2002-March 2003 war, state-owned Radio Centrafrique reported on Thursday.

The radio said the move was in response to a call by the province’s deputy governor, Clothilde Namboy, during a meeting on Wednesday with local leaders in Kaga-Bandoro, 342 km north of the capital, Bangui.

The meeting also resolved that cattle herders would pay taxes for pastureland to contribute to the reconstruction efforts.

Nana Gribizi was among the provinces that were badly affected by the war that pitted rebels and government forces. The war ended on 15 March when Francois Bozize overthrew President Ange-Felix Patasse. State and private property was destroyed or looted soon after the coup.

The radio reported that due to lack of offices and stationery, Namboy and other local authority officials were currently operating from a guest house owned by a religious community.

Nana Gribizi becomes the first province in the country to take the initiative to rebuild offices for its authorities.

In Bangui, several government-owned or private buildings that were destroyed have not been repaired. In its report to a visiting UN mission in June, the government said it urgently needed five billion francs CFA (US $9.3 million) to rehabilitate its administrative infrastructures in Bangui and in the provinces.

The government had said that Kaga-Bandoro would require 150 million francs CFA ($281,257 ), for its rehabilitation.