CONGO: EU grants $171,449 for school reconstruction

BRAZZAVILLE, 14 Apr 2005 (IRIN) - The EU has pledged a grant of 87 million francs CFA (US $171,449) for the rehabilitation of primary and secondary schools in the capital, Brazzaville, a local EU official said on Tuesday.

The coordinator of the EU's Micro-Realisation in Urban Environment Project (PMRU), Bernard Gay, said the programme was for 17 primary and secondary schools in Brazzaville's seven districts.

"The reconstruction of schools would mark the beginning of the second phase of the PMRU's activities, which officially began in 2004 and are due to end in 2006," he said.

He added that parents would contribute 25 percent of the $197,487 required to repair all the schools destroyed by civil wars in the country, while the EU would contribute 75 percent of total rehabilitation cost.

"Parents and pupils' contribution could be physical or financial," Gay said.

The reconstruction would be undertaken during the June-September holidays, he said, and would beneficiate an estimated 2,500 students currently studying in deplorable conditions.

Under the project, classrooms and toilets would be built, electronic equipment installed and the schools fenced for security. Gay said the EU would also build school libraries.

Once this reconstruction project is completed, the EU would finance health, education and roads projects presented by the public.

"PMRU's objective would be to reinforce civil society and allow the population to organise themselves in order to be able to solve certain problems at their level," Gay said.

[ENDS]