Kinshasa's curvy roads could ease traffic congestion - Congo Indépendant

2024-06-30 12:06:44

Completion of this project will have a very significant socio-economic impact on users. Avoid corruption! After the unfortunate experiences (100-day programme, Tshilejelu, Kalamba-Mbujimayi Road, Kananga-Mbujimayi Road etc.), some fear that the ring road project is just a repeat of past evils…

Gaston Mutamba Lucas

On Saturday June 22, President Félix-Antoine Tshisekedi launched construction work on the ring road (ring road) in Mitendi (Kinshasa). A ring road is an expressway that goes around a city to facilitate traffic flow and avoid congestion in the city center. According to Alexis Gisaro, the Minister of Infrastructure, Public Works and Reconstruction, the Kinshasa ring roads of the first phase of the project will be 63 km long and will connect the South East and South West sections. After the route, the first South West ring road will start from Mbudi district (Mont Ngafula commune) via the Caravan Way to Mitendi before joining the second South East ring road starting from Mitendi to national road no. 1 to guide. through Badara district which is not far from Ndjili international airport. The ring roads will therefore cross the communities of Mont Ngafula, Ndjili, Kimbanseke and Nsele. Construction work could cost a total of 300 million US dollars over three years, financed through the Sino-Congolese program.

Two more ring roads in the North will be built in the second phase of the project to make a complete loop around the city of Kinshasa. The success of the project will have a very significant social impact, not only on the local populations who will benefit from good access to basic social services and from the easy sale of agricultural production. Users will have other benefits such as time savings, comfort and safety. Vehicle operating costs (fuel, maintenance and wear and tear) will also fall. Junctions, bridges and level crossings will be built in the way that feasibility studies have been done since 2014. The project will therefore have a positive socio-economic impact on the development of the country.

The benefits of the ring road project

Mobility remains one of the essential challenges of urban management in Kinsale. According to the Congolese Major Works Agency, the ring road project will reduce transport costs and time in the city, increase the number of economic activities, reduce traffic congestion and improve the living conditions of the population. Kinshasa has a road network of only 3,621 km, covering 9,965 km². This network is clearly insufficient to cover the transport needs of at least 15 million people. According to projections, the number of inhabitants could reach 25 million in 2030.

For the Major Works Agency, a land use strategy is involved due to the demographic growth of Kinsasa as well as the management of travel and urban transport. In addition to the hilly topography of the southern edge of the city, which does not facilitate road travel, the main reasons for labor mobility in Kinshasa are the very wide character of the capital. The city is undergoing constant restructuring, its fleet of vehicles and the daily flow of population is gradually increasing, resulting in long queues on most roads during peak hours. In addition, the road network drawn up according to the old development plans is clearly insufficient to allow the flow of traffic on the main streams.

Avoid the corruption that affects major public projects

After the unfortunate experiences (100-day projects, Tshilejelu, Kalamba-Mbujimayi Road, Kananga-Mbujimayi Road etc.), some fear that the by-pass project is just a repeat of past failures. Without better control and monitoring of project execution. Corruption has always been the Achilles tendon of the political powers in the Congolese PD. In its annual report for 2015, Transparency International said that corruption affecting major public projects is a major obstacle to sustainable development. According to this international NGO, when the amount of bribes takes priority over the optimal use of resources, the result is poor quality construction and poor infrastructure management. Corruption wastes money, destroys states and costs a lot in human life.

The external debt of most underdeveloped countries is overburdened by entrepreneurs as a result of corruption. The building and public works sector is very important to the global economy. But when corrupt practices are introduced, they increase costs and change the quality of the infrastructure. Too often, in our country, we are absorbing infrastructures of great importance but whose lifespan has been reduced due to the poor quality of the materials used. This is the case, for example, of the Avenue du Tourisme that runs along the Congo in Kinshasa and the road works that were initiated with great fanfare, at huge costs. The current cost of 300 million dollars for 63 km of ring roads is acceptable since the average price, in Europe, per km of a 2 x 2 lane highway type is 8 million euros. The great fear is that this cost will increase due to further studies. Construction deadlines could also be extended, after the signing of the amendments, for dubious reasons.