Efoulan-Yaounde: Tap water returns after eight months

Inhabitants of the neighbourhood now enjoy abundant water supply after a period of hardship.

After eight months of dry taps in the Efoulan neighbourhood of Yaounde, inhabitants have since Saturday September 6, 2014 been enjoying continuous water supply. This, they say, is thanks to the just-ended road repairs in the area.

Carole Nouguem, a victim of the Efoulan water crises told Cameroon Tribune (CT) that they had been experiencing water crises long before road works commenced in February 2014. “It was only when the contractors finished repairing the roads that we had water because they arranged the pipes while repairing the road”, she said.

During the crises, people depended mostly on rain water and water pulled from wells to survive while children often had to trek long distances and cross the highway just to fetch water, thereby putting their lives in danger.

A ten-year-old boy whose name CT only got as Yvan also expressed excitement because he used to wake up at 6:00 a.m. with his siblings to go fetch water from Tchomo, a neighbouring street some 20 kilometres from the railroad behind the Cellulose Transformation Industry (SITRACEL), Efoulan. This was even more disturbing to parents especially as the school year was approaching.

CT also caught up with another inhabitant of the area, Severin Mbarga who claimed that the Cameroon Water Utility Company (CDE) recently brought water bills of over FCFA 14000, dating back to January 2014 with a fine of FCFA 4500 whereas there had been water shortage for over eight months. “However, upon confronting the CDE agents, the issue of fines was rectified,” said Severin Mbarga.

Inhabitants have been enjoying free flow of water for five days and this has greatly helped school children especially who no longer have to go late to school due to water scarcity.