Protest: Police shoot at demonstrators, arrest scores

For several days, workers on the site of the Memeve’le dam, have been subjected to threats and arrests.

An employee of the dam who is a protester and eyewitness, who disclosed this to Koaci under anonymity said the employees at the construction site began the strike movement without violence.

"They are demanding the implementation of the new convention of the BTP from January 1, 2014, the payment of the meal allowance of employees, the strict implementation of existing legislation relating to the construction of the Memve'ele dam," noted one of the protesters.

Against their claims, the authorities opposed the contempt and force, "during our event, Friday, security forces blocked the road and fired tear gas. They fired live ammunition at a dozen of us, among whom two were hospitalized, including two women. Meanwhile, we did not break anything, we made our demand without violence just to claim our rights," added the witness.

Since the outbreak of the protest, many workers have been arrested. Some were released, 4 were transferred to the Ambam Court in the South of the country while 3 others are still under arrest, continued the complainant.

It should be noted that, to strengthen energy to the interconnected-South network and supply of the future industrial port complex of Kribi (South region), the Cameroonian Government undertook a dam construction supplying a 200-megawatt plant. The total cost of this investment is about 365 billion CFA francs, including 286 billion for the dam and the power plant.