Faced with the deterioration of certain roads and household waste accumulating in Yaoundé, the Prime Minister, Joseph Dion Ngute, ordered the government to carry out “emergency work” to remedy the situation.
It was during a crisis meeting that he called on Thursday October 26. To this end, the Urban Community of Yaoundé (CUY) and the town halls of the communes were notably asked to proceed immediately with the filling of potholes, while waiting for substantial work to be carried out on certain axes which require heavy investments.
According to the Minister of Housing and Urban Development (Minhdu), Célestine Ketcha Courtès, a study carried out by her ministerial department indicates that 13.5 billion FCFA are needed to fill the potholes in Yaoundé. Last June, Minhdu claimed to have already mobilized one billion FCFA and invited the CUY and the town halls of the city’s seven district municipalities to put their hands in their pockets in order to resolve this problem. Célestine Ketcha Courtès affirms that this “advanced decrepitude” of the roads, deplored by the PM, is due to the aging of the existing roads whose dilapidation increases with the rain, to the absence of regular maintenance of the said roads and to demographic pressure. .
She recommends “innovative approaches” which, according to her, would make it possible to sustainably manage roads, such as the use of interlocking paving stones and roller-compacted concrete which does not need bitumen. The head of government also blacklisted the piles of rubbish which litter the streets and roads of the capital, accumulate in the markets, in front of schools, restaurants or bars, block the gutters and make Yaoundé a “trash city”. Anything that does not suit the “radiation” that we have the right to expect from the headquarters of Cameroonian institutions, according to Joseph Dion Ngute.
Especially at a time when the capital is preparing to host the 44th Ministerial Conference of La Francophonie which Cameroon is organizing for the first time from November 3 to 5. Nearly 400 participants and 100 delegations are expected for this purpose in Yaoundé, according to the Ministry of External Relations (Minrex). This shows what is at stake for the government which wants to put a good face on its hosts. On this question, the mayor of the city, Luc Messi Atangana, affirms that efforts are being made to curb this phenomenon due in particular to the “insufficient number” of actors in charge of the collection of household waste, the incivism of the populations and the rapid expansion of the city. To this end, he said, the CUY is preparing to launch a call for tenders to recruit new operators and is considering the creation of transit waste depot sites to try to restore its charm to Yaoundé.
