The European Investment Bank (EIB) has granted a loan of EUR 200 million to the Region of Réunion for construction of the Route des Tamarins. The Western Heights 2-lane dual carriageway, for which the initial excavation works are under way, will by 2008 make possible maximum traffic decongestion in the west of the island, between St Paul and St Pierre as well as between the Heights and the coast.
The road infrastructure project benefiting from the EIB loan extends some 34 km and is located on the western slope of the Piton des Neiges massif, a high-altitude region with topographically difficult terrain marked by ravines, gorges and cliffs. It includes 48 civil engineering structures, some of them of an exceptional' type. This region, giving access to the island's beaches, has experienced a strong growth in population in recent decades and traffic demand is set to keep expanding over the coming 15 years. The Route des Tamarins' will relieve the existing overstretched infrastructure, particularly in built-up areas. It will make for better operating conditions for the public transport system, skirting urban areas as far as possible so as to minimise disturbance and pollution. By improving access to the west of the island, it will deliver time and safety gains. Moreover, it should help to make the countryside along the route better known, while opening up the areas concerned. The project is an integral part of the PALT long-term development programme and ties in with the Region's multiannual investment programme.
The loan agreement, which brings in the EIB as one of the partners in this major project, was signed in St Denis on the island of Réunion on 16 September by Mr Paul Verges, President of the Regional Council, and EIB Vice-President Philippe de Fontaine Vive.
During the signing ceremony, Mr de Fontaine Vive stressed the importance attached by the EIB to supporting Réunion's infrastructure projects, be it in the domain of transport, training or education. He expressed satisfaction - at the EIB's involvement - along with the European Funds and in partnership with the commercial banks, in the provision of first-class financing to support the Region's investment efforts. As it had done in the case of other French Regions, the EIB stood ready to assist Réunion on identical terms and conditions in setting up programmes of key importance for the island's future.
Mr Verges welcomed the choice of the EIB as a financial partner alongside the Region's traditional banking partners, confirming also a strategy of diversifying the Region's sources of financing as part of a policy of measured borrowing. The association with the EIB will ensure optimal borrowing terms for the Region as regards interest rate and maturity, particularly suited to the economic life of the project concerned.
The European Investment Bank, the EU's financing institution, funds infrastructure projects throughout the Union, notably in the transport sector. In France, it has provided loans for the Regions, such as Brittany and more recently Champagne Ardenne.
This loan brings the EIB's total lending for economic development in Réunion to more than EUR 380 million, the financing operation for the Route des Tamarins being far and away the largest-ever in support of a French overseas region. Previous investment assisted by the EIB includes the projects to upgrade the island's road network (EUR 123 million), construct new facilities for and enlarge the airport of St Denis-Gillot (nearly EUR 30 million) and modernise and extend secondary education infrastructure on the island (EUR 23 million). As the island of Réunion is classed as an Objective 1 area, its investment projects are eligible for EIB financing under the heading of regional development. The prime remit assigned to the EIB upon its establishment - to work for economic and social cohesion - remains one of the priority objectives set in the Bank's Corporate Operational Plan.