Some 24 streets will be tarred to ease the flow of traffic in the economic capital.

Douala can be said to be a giant construction site. Apart from the construction of the access roads to the city, stadiums for the 2019 AFCON and the normal construction of buildings, there is the tarring of streets within the metropolis which has been going quietly, away from media attention.

The project which falls within the second phase of the triennial programme for economic growth, PLANUT, is sponsored by the Ministry of Urban Development and Housing. It consists of tarring some 24 streets in the city of Douala mostly around the Grand Moulin, New Deido, Diedo, New Bell and Bonateki neighbourhoods. It is executed by Arab Contractors.

The conduction of the project is a model in project management in Cameroon in that the population was sensitised on the project and when the caterpillars of Arab Contractors to demolish structures near the road so as to enlarge it, there was no resistance from the population.

“We held meetings with traditional rulers, quarter-heads and the population and before we came they had removed their useful belongings on their own,” said Jacques Antoine Njupneu” an environmental engineer working with the project.

The second positive aspect of the project is that service providers like Camwater, ENEO and Camtel are associated so they can pass their pipes and cables before the road is tarred to avoid digging later and degrading the road.

Work at Grand Moulin is at the level of demolition of structures that protrude into the road. Three streets were being demolished simultaneously and the site looks like a war zone with rubble everywhere. As the demolition progresses, a front-head loader caterpillar loads the rubble into trucks which immediately carry it away.

According to workers, the topographic measures had been made already demarcating the road. After this phase they will begin the digging proper while the service providers connect their utilities for construction work proper to begin in earnest.

The only irk on the project is that the construction company is complaining about unpaid bills after having done a similar work in Yaounde, saying they will be forced to down their tools by the end of the month if nothing is done to relief the situation.

Already we are in the third month of the project which is expected to last one year, which means the project will be completed before 2019 AFCON begins. This will not only ease traffic for visitors to Douala for the tournament but also add to the beauty and cleanliness of the city.