Mbandaka, 15 July 2009 - On a visit to Equateur province in northwestern DRC, Ross Mountain, Deputy Special Representative to the UN Secretary General in the DRC and resident UN humanitarian coordinator, noted the progress achieved since his last visit, but appealed for provincial resources to be better managed to benefit the local population.
Mr. Mountain was on a working visit to provincial capital Mbandaka on Tuesday 14 July 2009, to evaluate the political, social and humanitarian situation in Equateur. For Mr. Mountain, the visit was also a demonstration of MONUC and the international community’s commitment to western Congo, despite the situation in eastern Congo which demands the majority of its resources.
He met with the provincial authorities (parliament and government), the humanitarian community and UN agencies on the ground in Equateur.
Mr. Mountain welcomed the excellent collaboration within the UN system (MONUC/Agencies), before confirming that Mbandaka will be part of four “joint offices” of the United Nations which will be set up soon in the country.
He said he was concerned by the many threats to peace in the province, such as the situation of unemployed demobilized combatants, the fatal land and religious conflicts, the delays of payment for government security forces which result in rape, violence and extortion of all kinds, without forgetting the political crisis which has paralysed the province since the beginning of the year.
On the law on the administrative decoupling of the current province, Mr. Mountain said that it was “necessary to do everything to accelerate this process.”
Before his return to Kinshasa, he met with the temporary governor of Equateur Jean-Claude Baendé, and the office of the provincial parliament, provincial government ministers as well as the provincial security committee.
Ross Mountain advocated in favour of a better exploitation of natural resources which abound in the province, in particular the forests, lakes and rivers, in order to improve the living conditions of the population.
Although he acknowledged the good progress achieved since his last visit, he hastened to add that the province could do better, with the assistance of its development partners and a better management of the province’s resources.
Temporary Equateur governor Jean-Claude Baendé said he was delighted by the constant United Nations support to the province; a support which was celebrated by the handing over by the UNDP of an important batch of data-processing kits (computers and accessories) to the Governorship of the province, to reinforce the operational capacities of the provincial administration.