Damascus - Minister of Local Administration Tamer al-Hija said on Thursday that Syria will allocate a SYP 10 billion fund (1 SYP is equivalent to 47 USD) to provide financing for development programs of random and housing areas.
The Minister's remarks came at his meeting with a delegation of the French Development Agency (FDA), attended by the French Ambassador in Damascus and experts from Tunisia.
Al-Hija added that the Ministry is preparing a comprehensive strategy for tackling the problem of random housing which will be included in the government's 11th five-year plan.
A team will be deployed to carry out the rehabilitation and development of random housing areas with the help of foreign experts, the Minister said.
He added that the rehabilitation projects will be studied in cooperation with the AFD and implemented over 30 year period.
Al-Hija also said that the EU will offer a 50 million euro loan to contribute to the execution of these projects, and that France will also contribute by 20 million euros.
He made clear that this financial support will be received gradually according to the implementation rate in each project.
French Ambassador to Syria Eric Chevallier said the 20 million euros planned to be given to the Syrian government will be approved on in France in the period before October.
He added that another 400. 000 euros will be offered to the Syrian side in technical support, and that this amount is likely to increase if necessary.
The participants in the meeting stressed the importance of developing a comprehensive future vision for the rehabilitation project to determine the mechanisms of work and ensure that the inhabitants of random housing areas get houses to substitute theirs which will be destroyed or rebuilt.
By H. Said /Mazen
© SANA (Syria Arab News Agency) 2010
