As an illustration of transport difficulties in the DRC, even before wars damaged the infrastructure, the so-called "national" route, used to get supplies to
Bukavu from the seaport of
Matadi, consisted of the following: • Matadi to
Kinshasa – rail • Kinshasa to
Kisangani –
river boat • Kisangani to
Ubundu – rail • Ubundu to
Kindu – river boat • Kindu to
Kalemie – rail • Kalemie to Kalundu (the lake port at
Uvira) – boat on
Lake Tanganyika • Kalundu to Bukavu – road In other words, goods had to be loaded and unloaded eight times and the total journey would take many months. Many of the routes listed below are in poor condition and may be operating at only a fraction of their original capacity (if at all), despite recent attempts to make improvements. Up to 2006 the
United Nations Joint Logistics Centre (UNJLC) had an operation in Congo to support
humanitarian relief agencies working there, and its bulletins and maps about the transport situation are archived on
ReliefWeb. The
First and
Second Congo Wars saw great destruction of transport infrastructure from which the country has not yet recovered. Many vehicles were destroyed or commandeered by
militias, especially in the north and east of the country, and the fuel supply system was also badly affected. Consequently, outside of
Kinshasa,
Matadi and
Lubumbashi, private and commercial road transport is almost non-existent and traffic is scarce even where roads are in good condition. The few vehicles in use outside these cities are run by the
United Nations, aid agencies, the DRC government, and a few larger companies such as those in the mining and energy sectors. High-resolution satellite photos on the Internet show large cities such as
Bukavu,
Butembo and
Kikwit virtually devoid of traffic, compared to similar photos of towns in neighbouring countries. Air transport is the only effective means of moving between many places within the country. The Congolese government, the United Nations, aid organisations and large companies use air rather than ground transport to move personnel and freight. The UN operates a large fleet of aircraft and helicopters, and compared to other African countries the DRC has a large number of small domestic airlines and air charter companies. The transport (and smuggling) of minerals with a high value for weight is also carried out by air, and in the east, some stretches of paved road isolated by destroyed bridges or impassable sections have been turned into airstrips. For the ordinary citizen though, especially in rural areas, often the only options are to cycle, walk or go by dugout canoe. Some parts of the DRC are more accessible from neighbouring countries than from
Kinshasa. For example, Bukavu itself and
Goma and other north-eastern towns are linked by paved road from the DRC border to the
Kenyan port of
Mombasa, and most goods for these cities have been brought via this route in recent years. Similarly,
Lubumbashi and the rest of
Katanga Province is linked to
Zambia, through which the paved highway and rail networks of Southern Africa can be accessed. Such links through neighbouring countries are generally more important for the east and south-east of the country, and are more heavily used, than surface links to the capital. ==Major infrastructure programs==