COTONOU, Benin, April 20 (Xinhua) -- A total of 400 billion CFA Francs (653 million U.S. dollars) will be released to develop and rehabilitate 620 km of roads in nine cities in Benin, official source said Wednesday.
The funding will go to main, secondary and tertiary roads in the cities of Cotonou, Porto-Novo, Abomey-Calavi, Seme-Podji, Parakou, Abomey, Bohicon, Natitingou and Lokossa, according to a release from the Ministry of Living Conditions and Sustainable Development.
The decision was made after the government had conducted an eviction operation in January over occupied public lands across Benin, the release said.
"Our cities loss their vitality," Josee Tonato, Benin's Minister of Living Conditions and Sustainable Development, warned then when launching the eviction operation.
To start in the fourth quarter of 2017, the project aims to improve among other things road traffic conditions, access to social and community facilities and rainwater disposal network, in the meanwhile, to stimulate local economies.
