Transportation

thumb|left|The airport in Port-Gentil

The city has an airport, Port-Gentil International Airport, serving as the main channel of transportation with the world. Regular flights connect it with Libreville, capital of Gabon.

Port-Gentil is connected to the mainland by a series of roads and bridges, stretching 93 km southwards along the coast to Omboué. The project was funded by a loan from the Export–Import Bank of China and constructed by the China Road and Bridge Corporation and GAUFF Engineering.

The limited number of paved roads within the city are poorly maintained. The roads are paved in the inner city up to the outskirts of the new residential districts in N'Tchengue, where sandy paths with frequent potholes prevail. Traffic jams are common in road junctions such as the Carrefour Tobia or Léon Mba, close to the downtown area. There are plenty of shared taxi services for which the price of a drive is negotiable, starting usually at 400 CFA Francs. The taxi fare usually doubles for night drives. A premium price (doubled fare) is requested for passengers travelling beyond paved roads, given the hardships of the road, lack or non existence of illuminated roads at night, or pedestrians randomly walking on the road. Most of the cars are obsolete given the prohibitively high cost of new imported cars. Furthermore, the lack of local car spareparts manufacturers underscores the need to import such parts from as far as Europe, the increased price as well as the lengthy delivery duration penalize altogether the traffic.

Healthcare

Hospitals within Port-Gentil include:<br>* Clinique Mandji, located in the Littoral district on the Route de la Sobraga,<br>* Clinique du Littoral, located on the Boulevard du Gouverneur Pélieu,<br>* Centre du Traitement Ambulatoire on the road to N'Tchengue.

Education

Schools include:

  • École Mixte Port-Gentil or École publique conventionnée de Port-Gentil
  • École primaire Léopold Sédar Senghor (French primary school)
  • Lycée Français Victor Hugo de Port-Gentil (French secondary school)

Places of worship

Among the places of worship, they are predominantly Christian churches and temples : Roman Catholic Diocese of Port-Gentil (Catholic Church), Assemblies of God, Evangelical Church of Gabon. There are also Muslim mosques.

Notable residents

  • Stéphane Lasme, professional basketball player
  • Alexander N'Doumbou, professional footballer

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File:POG-Street 1.jpg|Main street

File:POG-Street 3.jpg|Street

File:PORTGENTIL2.JPG|Beach

File:Port-Gentil - Nation coat of arms of Gabon - 2009.jpg|Fiftieth anniversary monument

</gallery>

References

Sources

  • David E. Gardinier, Historical Dictionary of Gabon, 2nd ed. (The Scarecrow Press, 1994) p.&nbsp;275–276
  • Port Gentil - the world's most expensive city, Time Magazine online, Mar 16 2007