Business

After the  recent visit to Cameroon by the leaders of Proventure Energy on August the 3rd to August the 8th 2015,news has filtered into our news desk that the Indian company will soon sign a contract for the development of solar energy in Cameroon. Sources at the Prime Minister's office have also suggested that the agreement will be centered on the creation of a photo-voltaic-solar plant with a 100 megawatts capacity.

An aide to Prime Minister Yang Philemon who spoke to Cameroon Concord but sued for anonymity noted that the project will involve many areas in the hinterlands without electricity. However, the investment cost has not been revealed by both parties. 

The government of Prime Minister Yang has been attempting to seek lasting solutions to the energy crisis in the urban centers and the complete absence of electricity in rural communities. Thus, in June, Basile Atangana Kouna, the Minister of Water and Energy, announced the launch of a solar photo voltaic project, costing 53 billion CFA francs, financed by the Eximbank of China. The first phase of this project will benefit 13 000 rural localities in all the 10 regions of the country.

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Ngwa Bertrand

26.Aug.2015

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After a long stand-off which saw drivers on the Douala- Bangui road lay down their tools in protest, long drawn out negotiations ended a few days ago, leading to the reopening of this vital road which is a veritable lifeline for the economy of the Central African Republic thrown into turmoil a few years back with civil strife.

Since July 29 this year, some 450 lorries conveying essential goods to this neighbouring country from the Douala port have been grounded in Garoua-Boulai, the last Cameroonian town before the journey into the CAR begins. The drivers could take it no more. The 600 kilometer-odd journey through CAR territory had become a veritable death trap which only the stone-hearted could undertake. In less than two years, about one dozen Cameroonian transportation staff, notably drivers, have been killed on this highway and several others attacked and wounded in numerous attacks on the stretch.

The entire stretch is infested with highway robbers who do not just steal or loot goods- some of which are such important supplies as drugs or vital supplies for the sustenance of daily life - but also kill virtually for the pleasure of it because in many cases those killed are unarmed compared to the heavy arms many of these thieves and renegades of the numerous armed bands marauding in the territory carry around. The drivers had come to the conclusion that the security measures in place were largely inadequate and their countless pleas to the authorities of the two countries and repeated assurances of the CAR authorities following repeated visits to Yaounde did not yield fruits as the attacks and killings continued virtually unabated.

 

At a crisis meeting organized in Garoua-Boulai last Saturday, the drivers agreed to resume duty not after having been assured of new security measures which will henceforth guarantee a safe passage from the Cameroon-CAR border at Garoua-Boulai right up to Bangui. The new measures are part of a wider package involving not only the government of CAR which has generally failed to deliver on its promises and guarantees, but now involves the UN Mission in Central Africa, MINUSCA which is playing a leading role in peace-keeping and stabilization in the Central African Republic.

New troop reinforcements are being committed to reinforce the Bangladeshi troops that have been solely responsible for security along the 600-kilometer road. Now, detachments of Cameroonian, Congolese and Gabonese troops are coming into the show while a military base is to be constructed between the localities of Bouar and Baboua which have hitherto been the epicentre of crime and where the highest concentrations of attacks and killings have been recorded. Another measure which will obviously satisfy the Cameroonian drivers is the limiting of convoys to 60, rather than 120 vehicles as was the case before. This will obviously make for closer controls and instill more confidence in the minds of the drivers.

Another important decision taken at Garoua-Boulai last Saturday concerns the prohibition of transporting non-authorized persons because, as it was observed, many attacks have come from people drivers took along the way often considering them to be in difficulty while such people were disguised criminals simulating difficulties. Another confidence-building initiative for the drivers is the decision to register all of them with the national social security insurance schemes so as to avoid the situation involved in previous killings when the absence of social insurance created administrative difficulties sometimes leading to the non-payment of all certain rights and benefits which could normally have gone to the kith and kin of the deceased.

The denouement of this situation is good for everyone, the least not being the CAR, a land-locked country already hit by a terrible internal crisis and which needs constant supplies from the Douala port. The end of the strike also signals happier moments for the UN forces in the CAR whose supplies, in large part, are ferried by land from Douala. It is therefore very necessary to consolidate these important gains by ensuring that the security of drivers on this road is a permanent concern.

Source:Cameroon Tribune

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Ngwa Bertrand

25.Aug.2015

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Stakeholders of the Finance Sector comprising State and Municipal Treasurers, Finance Controllers of the Southwest Region, have evaluated their performances from the month of January to June, 2015. This was during the second Regional Coordination meeting of Public Accountants that took place on August 7, 2015, in Kumba. It took place under the chair of the Governor of the Southwest Region who was represented by the Inspector General at the Governor’s office, Haman Dairu. It aimed at evaluating the financial record of the Southwest Municipal Treasurers and Finance Controllers of the 2014 financial year.

The meeting was also to sensitize Public Accountants on the importance of their jobs, the need to remain conscious while respecting the finance law. According to the Southwest Pay Master General, Ayuk Peter Akpoeban, the budget of the 2014 financial year, is slightly above what was realised in 2013 which was 38.7 per cent. He however requested stakeholders, authorising officers and Accountants to take measures so as to put an end to late payment and also to avoid taking over expenditures of previous years. He said the submission of financial accounts has improved this year, unlike the previous year where 139 accounts were not provided. Mr Akpoeban, noted that some Accountants lay unjustified complaints such as fire hazards, theft, with no documented facts to justify. 

Haman Dairu on his part, said it is the responsibility of Accountants to keep and handle the public funds, without which the state cannot fulfill its obligations towards its citizens. He lauded the Accountants of the Southwest Region and the efforts they are making with regards to the compliance to orthodox and quest for performance. He used the forum to reveal some of the plans the government has for the Southwest Region, which encompasses the health sector, urban development, roads, water resources and energy, security, reference hospital as well as large food market, to be constructed in Buea as soon as resources are available. He did not fail to mention the security measures that should be taken by Accountants like managing the flow of users who appear before their counters, preventing people with bags from entering their offices without being properly searched.

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Ngwa Bertrand

24.Aug.2015

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Residents of Buea and the South West in general now live in constant fear as the busiest road leading to regional headquarters is fast becoming a death trap. When local news reporters visited the affected portion along the infamous Dipanda Hill on the Buea-Mutengene highway on August 18, 2015, huge rocks and mud from the adjacent hill had virtually blocked half of the road. A few days earlier, a transport bus was almost completely destroyed after mud and rocks crashed on the road as the vehicle was descending the steep slope. Even yesterday, August 19, 2015, another landslide occurred at site, cutting off traffic for some time. It took the efforts of some youth from Mutengene to clear the road. 

Many people are asking what the authorities are doing to protect the lives of the people. Being a major gateway into Buea, this road is indispensable to socio-economic activities of the South West Region. Every rainy season, it is the same phenomenon as disaster looms, threatening passing vehicles and pedestrians. One life was lost at the site last year after a similar landslide. Observers say urgent measures are needed to solve the problem. If not, there may be more loss of lives and access to and from Buea totally blocked. In the meantime, the local public transport union has warned members to be cautious while approaching the dangerous spot. Apart from the landslides on the Buea-Mutengene road, Buea still faces frequent deadly accidents between the Police Roundabout and Mile 17 stretch, especially near the GCE Board Junction. Speed brakes are being erected along the street by Buea Council to check the situation, but some residents have already expressed reservations as to their efficiency.

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Ngwa Bertrand

22.Aug.2015

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The construction of a dry port as one of the solutions to the congestion of the Port of Douala (PAD) was decided on Friday, at the end of a tripartite meeting between the Cameroonian customs administration and its counterparts in the Central African Republic (CAR) and Chad.

The meeting is held in a context marked by the occupation of an important part of the port area by 3,000 containers bound for CAR and Chad, and whose customs clearance formalities were completed several weeks ago. Dry ports will be built in Douala, within the port premises, in Edea (Littoral Region) and in the eastern town of Belabo, at the border with CAR. According to Cameroon’s General Directorate of Customs (DGD), some 3,000 containers are still marooned at the port of Douala, while 400 boats are grounded in the eastern town of Garoua-Boulai for security reasons.

These security concerns are on the Douala-Ndjamena corridor, with incursions by the Nigerian militant group Boko Haram in the far-northern region of Cameroon and in the Lake Chad area, as well as the Douala-Bangui corridor, with acts of violence perpetrated by CAR’s armed groups scouring the western part of the country bordering Cameroon.

As a result, several containers are piled up at the Port of Douala and other towns across the country, while transporters have chosen to go on strike as long as the security concerns are not tackled. At the end of the meeting, the governments of Cameroon, CAR and Chad promised to beef up security, which indicates that the activities could resume by the end of this week, according to participants

Source:AP

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Ngwa Bertrand

22.Aug.2015

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It has been made public that most of the contracts engaged by Camair-co under the successive leadership of Van Elk, Matthijs Boertien and Mbotto Edimo were fake and eventually led to business failure. An investigation carried out by some local media houses in Cameroon on 150 contracts signed by Camair-co general managers found out that more than 70 were fictitious including those related to the hiring of aircrafts and pilots.

Mindful of Article 8 of presidential decree 2006/293 of 11 September 2006 that provided guidelines for the recruitment of pilots, Cameroon Concord has learned that the team headed by Mr. Alex Van Elk recruited pilots with little or no experience. Moreover, some pilots recruited from the migrant community had their contracts signed without consultation with the guardianship of the company. Some of the foreign pilots received training to qualify to fly the Boeing paid for by our national carrier. The case of a Spanish citizen, Eduardo Soria Fairen is quite indicative. He was recruited with no experience and Camair-co spent 18 million FCFA to train him to qualify to pilot the Boeing 767-300 aircraft. 

A sister publication, La Nouvelle Expression reported that while a Cameroonian captain earned around 2.5 million FCFA, the migrant pilots provided by the Park Aviation Limited were paid 5.248 million CFA francs. For nearly three years, Camair-co has paid hush hush money to 14 foreign pilots causing the company nearly 333 946 800 CFA francs lost during all these years. These contracts are professionally inappropriate and costly.

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Ngwa Bertrand

21.Aug.2015

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