Matadi, 13 February 2012 – Seventeen villages around the port city of Matadi, Bas-Congo province, are now opened up thanks to an access road that will allow the rural population of this community to establish mutually beneficial links between the region and the neighbouring areas.

The road was inaugurated on 13 February 2012 in Tshimpi, one of the 17 villages, in the presence of the local administrative and traditional authorities, as well as officials of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) and its partners.

This unpaved road is only 16 km long, one might say, but it is of tremendous importance for this population who depends largely on the sale of its agricultural products. According to the local population, the newly-rehabilitated road had been unsuitable for traffic for decades. Even cyclists could not use it. Today, the road is suitable for all types of vehicles.

Thanks to funds from MONUSCO Quick Impact Projects (QIPs), the Association for the Promotion of the Vulnerable and Support to the Mobilization of Community Actions (Association pour la Promotion des Vulnérables et d'Appui à la Mobilisation des Actions communautaires - APROVEMAC) was able to carry out the works for a total cost of $14,870. According to the terms of this project, this road will "facilitate the dispatching of local agricultural products from the villages to urban centres, and in exchange, sending off manufactured goods to these villages".

The Mayor of the city, Jean Marc Nzeyidio Lukombo, who was visibly satisfied, thanked MONUSCO, while also acknowledging that it was not the first achievement of the mission for the populations. In 2006, MONUSCO built a water pump and a sports facility for these villages.