Reconstruction of infrastructure to begin

The process of rehabilitating Angola's road infrastructure, devastated by a 27-year long civil war, has begun. South African company, WBHO Construction, has been awarded a contract to rehabilitate the road between Lubango and Matala in southern Angola. Humanitarian agencies have urged the Angolan government to prioritise the repair and maintenance of the country's crumbling transport infrastructure, to allow for a more efficient response to the country's humanitarian crisis. WBHO told IRIN the rehabilitation of the road linking Lubango and Matala, in southern Huambo province, was valued at about US $14.5 million. It was part of a much larger programme that included the rehabilitation of roads and bridges in Namibe in the south and Cabinda, in the north. Two other firms, one South African and one Portuguese, had been awarded tenders for other parts of the project. Anthony Schooling, the company's business development manager, said the start date would "depend on many things", such as government guarantees regarding the financing of the project. "It could take anything from two to six months" before work began, he said. As it juggles its priorities, the government was believed to have re-routed some money from the rehabilitation project to the demobilisation and reintegration of former UNITA rebel fighters following the 4 April ceasefire agreement. The reconstruction of Angola's highway network was part of a "strategic plan" to rebuild the country's infrastructure. The government had approved the infrastructure rehabilitation plan the day before the ceasefire agreement was signed. Radio National de Angola (RNA) reported this month that several provincial governors had confirmed that among the roads prioritised for rehabilitation were those linking the capital Luanda to Malanje in the north, Saurimo to Luena and Dundo in the east, and Luanda to Sumbe along the Atlantic coast. Also targeted for repair were roads linking coastal Benguela to Lubango in the highlands and Ondjiva to Santa Clara in the far south of the country.