Mbandaka, 8 June 2010 - In the absence of a bridge for decades now, every rainy season the two communes of Bokengia and Ibonzi in Equateur province have been cut off from each other. MONUC has financed the construction of a bridge which has now put an end to years of struggle.

The little village of Bokengia in the Bikoro territory about 130 km from Mbandaka celebrating the inauguration of the bridge financed through MONUC's Quick Impact projects (QIPs) program, connecting the village with its neighbor Ibonzi.

Carried out by local workers, with an overall cost of 8.182 USD, the challenging construction work took three months to complete.

According to Nkumu Belleli, president of the "Coopérative des planteurs agricoles et éleveurs indépendants" (COPAGELI), a local NGO, the bridge will constitute an important asset for the population of both villages stimulating mutual exchange that had previously been interrupted for several months during the rainy seasons.

Today the bridge named « Pont MONUC » allows bikes, motorbikes and cars to easily cross from one side to the other. The customary chief of Bokengia, Mwanzia Iveli, has confirmed that "thanks to MONUC, we can now easily move our merchandise to Bikoro or Mbandaka and move around without problems in all seasons. In fact traffic has become normal".

MONUC on its side has asked the users of the bridge to take good care of it, and to preserve it for generations to come.