Douala: Thousands of houses yet to be demolished

Three ministers, Jean Claude Mbwentchou, Minister of Housing and Urban Development (MINHDU); Jacqueline Kung at Bessiké, Minister of Lands, Land Registry and Land Affairs (MINDCAF); and Jules Doret Ndongo, Minister Delegate at the MINATD in charge of Local Authorities Decentralized (CTD), conducted a government mission in Yaoundé on Friday.

The mission was to assess the implementation of urgent measures taken after the last major floods in the economic capital at the end of the Inter-Ministerial Mission from June 26 to 28.

Ditches and drains overflowing with plastic bottles and waste of all kinds, unclean drains and gutters, drains filled with plastic bottles and weeds preventing the free flow of water. That was the conclusion derived by the government's mission after visiting 'Huit Points' flood victims of June in Douala.

Kondi, St. Thomas valley, Makepe Missokè, Bonamoussadi, Baho and Tongo Bassa (Banya) are areas that were assessed by these authorities. However, after this visit, Mr Mandeng, Director of Studies, Planning and Cooperation of the Urban Community of Douala (UCD), noted a "satisfaction in Douala V where the nests of water and drains were."

A sanitation exercise which was recommended to decongest the drains and demolition of buildings were partially executed. Thus, "among the 433 buildings identified and destroyed, only 33 were demolished by the CUD. People took the initiative to destroy a hundred. About 150 buildings were destroyed, altogether. For others, there have been some problems," informed the government delegate to the Cud, Fritz Ntone Ntone.

He added: "We compared our list with the prefect and found that there were houses that were to be destroyed immediately and others later.”

The committee chaired by the Prefect of the Wouri and the government delegate of the Cud did not agree on the number of houses to clear out.

Compensation

According to Nasseri Paul Bea, prefect of the department of Wouri, the commission he heads has identified 2,482 families to move 5metres from the drains. The amount of compensation is 9.9 billion FCfa. The UCD Committee have also identified 1,149 families to move 3 metres from the drain with a compensation of 13.2 billion FCfa.

The Minhdu instructed them to harmonize their lists. In terms of compensation, "the file is already at the presidency. The Decree of the compensation is at the advanced level. Even those who do not their names will receive compensation if they present a proof that they were affected by the demolishing exercise."

According to Mbwentchou Jean Claude, a national strategy against the compensation will be established and the example will start from Douala.

Jules Doret Ndongo recommended people to reduce the number of bottles they dump into drains and gutters to prevent future floods. In order to encourage the hygiene and sanitation groups working in the neighbourhoods, "the president will support the groups that are most distinguished and we will award them scholarships on the eve of the school year,” said the governor of the Littoral region.