New measures to facilitate housing acquisition, construction of Bizerte Bridge next month

The government is currently working to introduce changes to the system “FOPROLOS” to broaden the base of recipients and allow as many Tunisian families as possible to acquire housing, according to Minister of Public Works and Housing Sarah Zaafrani.

In an interview with “African Manager”, she said that the construction of the new bridge of Bizerte will start soon, probably next June. She also mentioned the reasons for the delay in the delivery of social housing, and spoke of the Ministry’s program of the Ministry to modernize the road network in Tunisia.

Regarding the delay in the delivery of social housing to their beneficiaries despite their availability for some time, the Minister of Public Works said this delay as well as the delivery of housing are not the responsibility of his department.

She explained that the delay is due to the verification of the lists of beneficiaries by specific committees in the various governorates of the Republic, and this for the sake of fairness.

“Social surveys are currently conducted and files are being studied to deliver very soon the final lists of about 4,000 homes that will be delivered to their beneficiaries, “she said.

“We want to complete the verification of files and hand over the keys, especially since the maintenance and caretaking operations are very expensive and require additional funds,” she further indicated.

Regarding the rise in real estate prices in Tunisia, and new measures to enable more families to acquire housing, the minister stressed that rising prices of building materials and land has caused a huge increase in housing.

She added that the government is reviewing the legislative system of the Fund for the Promotion of Housing for Employees (Foprolos) in order to facilitate the process of acquiring housing.

“Other groups will be included and the user base of “Foprolos” will be expanded,” she stated.

What about the expansion of the southern entrance of Tunis?

Regarding the project of the expansion of the southern entrance of the capital considered a model project, but which is making very slow progress, the Minister said that the work has resumed at a steady pace, but never stopped.

However, problems related to the transfer of public supply networks have sometimes prevented the progress of work in accordance with the plans put in place upstream.

“We hope that the pace of work will accelerate with the completion of transfer operations in the coming period, “she said.

In fact, this project is worth 370 million dinars, funded by the European Investment Bank, covering about 12 km, including 6 km to widen the road to 4 lanes in one direction, in addition to a number of interchanges to give more fluidity to traffic.

This work will connect the area of the Center for Trauma and Burned Ben Arous to the entrances of Morouj and the entrance to Tunis, through the neighborhood of J’bel Jloud, to end with the bridge of the Republic in the capital.

The bridge of Bizerte, from June

Regarding the starting date of the Bizerte bridge project, the Minister said the official authorization will be given to launch the work of the first and third tranches of the new project bridge Bizerte in June, provided that the green light is given later to start work on the second tranche.

The first and third tranches of the project concern the completion of the northern and southern link roads of the main bridge, which is a highway that extends over 4.7 km of the southern part and is equipped with 3 interchanges and 2.7 km of the northern part. The second stage concerns the main bridge extending 2.1 km and 56 meters high at the water surface.

The cost of the project is 750 million dinars, funded by the European Investment Bank and the African Development Bank.

Finally, regarding the state of roads that is increasingly degrading in most cities, the Minister revealed that a special program to modernize the road network, mobilizing a budget of 300 million dinars, is being developed and will be launched soon.

“In recent years, the State has worked to increase investment in this area to improve road infrastructure in Tunisia, “she concluded.