Bangui: 68,000 m² expropriated for military infrastructure
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Corbeau News Centrafrique
The Central African government has adopted in Council of Ministers a draft decree declaring in the public interest more than 68,000 square metres of Avenue des Martyrs in Bangui, on the former Ucatex factory site. According to the executive, the land will host infrastructure for the defence and security forces, and those concerned have fifteen days to assert their rights, according to Corbeau News.
The Central African government has adopted in Council of Ministers a draft decree declaring in the public interest more than 68,000 square metres located on Avenue des Martyrs, in the eighth district of Bangui, near the UCATEX site. According to Corbeau News, this measure is to allow the construction of infrastructure intended for the defence and security forces. Those concerned have fifteen days to assert their rights, failing which they lose any possibility of compensation.
The perimeter includes the Cité Soleil site at Luedi-Ucatex as well as part of land title 31-31. It corresponds to the former Ucatex textile factory, built under the regime of Jean-Bedel Bokassa and closed for several decades. After industrial activity ceased, the site served as an operational base for Minusca, the UN mission in the Central African Republic, which returned it to the state as part of the reorganisation of its arrangements.
Some observers note that, since the land has already reverted to state property, the declaration of public interest could be a mere formality. The decision recalls the case of the Fidèle Obrou military camp: the authorities had announced that its transfer would fund a new military base at PK22, but no significant infrastructure had been built there several years later.
