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A prime ministerial order stating the conditions for handling, storing and transporting gas cylinders has been issued by the Head of Government, Philemon Yang. The order signed on 26th May 2015 was made public on the 31st August 2015. The edict clearly states the conditions under which cooking gas can be handled, stored and transported.

According to this edict, any person handling gas cylinders must be trained either by the supplier or any recognised body. The said person is expected to put on protective gloves and shoes and to roll with his feet in the absence of a carriage. The edict further states that gas cylinders should be stored standing, loose or in pallets and kept in a spacious environment by licensed or authorized persons. 

At the level of transportation, the Ministerial Decree insists that security measures must be strictly considered. Vehicles transporting gas cylinders are supposed to be spacious and having fire extinguishers. The transportation of gas cylinders to filling or redistribution centres shall hence forth be done only by trucks. Suppliers of cylinder gas are expected to apply the set-up rules within 24 months from the date of signature.

This decree comes after many deadly fire incidents have been registered by the country as a result of the poor handling of domestic gas.

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Ngwa Bertrand

02.Sep.2015

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The Bank of Central African States, BEAC is planning to gradually withdraw all the new 500, 1000 and 2000 FCFA notes that it recently put into the monetary system of central Africa. A very flippant but reliable source inside BEAC was quoted as saying that the central bank has realized the notes age relatively quickly and that the material that was used in the production does not last long.

The source also added that it has given users too much pain who often think that the notes are not authentic. Beac put into circulation banknotes made of plastic in March 2015. At the time, the monetary institution said they wanted to fight against rapidly aging process of the legal tender. As usual with Francophone, the governments of the Sub Saharan region using the currency issued statements welcoming the new notes. 

It is now evidently clear that the experts got it all wrong. Indeed the plastic that surrounds the new notes is deteriorating very quickly. An aging has often cause tensions between users who think that it is counterfeit.

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Ngwa Bertrand

02.Sep.2015

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The CPDM government has granted for an initial period of 20 years the exploitation and expansion of the container terminal in the port of Kribi to the consortium Bolloré Africa Logistics (BAL) - China Harbour Engineering Corporation (Chec) and CMA CGM. To win the bidding for the management of the container terminal, Cameroon Concord gathered that the Bolloré grouping / CHEC / CMA CGM, proposed 623.47 million euros to the steering committee monitoring the administration of the industrial and port complex.

Kribi already has a dock of 350 m, built and equipped by CHEC. The concession contract granted to the group on Thursday August 27, 2015, provides for the expansion of the terminal, with the construction of an additional quay of 700 meters over a maximum period of 5 years. The harbor port of Kribi, has a depth of 15 meters and direct access to the sea, which will enable Cameroon to host large ships carrying up to 8,000 containers. 

The French giant, Bolloré Africa Logistics which now runs the Kribi terminal operator, also controls the container terminal in the port of Douala, has 100% control of Camrail, our railway company and employs only 5000 Cameroonians ever since it emergence in Cameroon in 1947. The group operates in 46 African countries and has 25 000 employees with a turnover budget of 25 billion euros.

Its Chairman Vincent Bollore teleguided and supervised the demise of former Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo when he reportedly erected a stone wall against the interest of Bollore Africa Logistics in his country. 

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Ngwa Bertrand

31.Aug.2015

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The embezzlement case against former SONARA GM, Charles Metouck and others at the Special Criminal Court in Yaounde, is drawing to a close. According to the prosecution at the Yaounde-based Special Criminal Court, SCC, Charles Metouck, the former General Manager of the National Oil Refinery, SONARA in Limbe, and three co-accused, should be found guilty of embezzling FCFA 514 million. Advocate General, Tagiyin Jean Claude, spoke while presenting his final submissions during the hearing of August 26, 2015.

In his lengthy presentation, which revisited highlights of the trial, including testimonies of witnesses, Mr. Justice Tagiyin said by endorsing a cheque for FCFA 108 million to Viking Ltd for a controversial oil deal, Metouck had caused the State to lose the amount. He averred that the former GM had no authority to pay the money. Similarly, Metouck caused the loss of FCFA 406 million by the State after he paid the amount to Ecobank Development Corporation with headquarters in Lome, Togo without deducting taxes at source. In his submission, Counsel for SONARA, Barrister Ndam Jean Bertrand, while supporting the position of the Legal Department, said the embezzlement of FCFA 406 million was only discovered after officials of the Supreme State Audit Office checked the accounts of SONARA in 2011. 

He noted that the task was hitherto rendered difficult given Ecobank Development Corporation’s base abroad. On his part, the lawyer for the State, Barrister Sama Francis Asanga, said Article 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code states that theft of money in a corporation where the State has majority of the shares is considered as embezzlement of public funds. He said this was the case in SONARA where the State has 84 per cent of shares. He added that the trial had respected all norms of equity and fairness by holding in public, with the accused given the opportunity to freely defend themselves.

The trial of the former General Manager of the National Oil Refinery, Charles Metouck, began on Wednesday, February 18, 2015. Metouck and others are accused of embezzling over FCFA 514 million. The other accused are Ngalle Mouelle Noé, Edinguele Edinguele Jean Joule and Dikoume Albert Léonard. Meanwhile, charges against Tiako Etienne were later dropped after his reimbursement in January 2015 of FCFA 108 million he and others embezzled.ppppp The remaining defendants are charged with aiding and abetting the embezzlement of over FCFA 108 million. The amount was reportedly fraudulently retained from the signing by SONARA of an oil lifting contract with Viking Ltd. Meanwhile, over FCFA 406 million, in taxes due to the State, was allegedly fraudulently retained by Charles Metouck after paying the amount to Ecobank Development Corporation.

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Ngwa Bertrand

31.Aug.2015

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The container terminal of the Kribi Deep Seaport will henceforth be managed by the Bolloré/CMA-CGM/CHEC consortium while the operation and maintenance of the multipurpose terminal has been handed to the Necotrans/KPMO consortium. 

This follows a release from Prime Minister Yang Philemon on August 26, 2015. The creation of a ports authority in Kribi and the appointment of a management team are still being awaited to render the infrastructure operational.

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Ngwa Bertrand

29.Aug.2015

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A solar energy plant was inaugurated on Thursday in Mvomeka'a, the birth place of the head of state, President Paul Biya. The ceremony was chaired by Hon.Basile Atangana Kouna, the Minister for Water and Energy. The center has 293 solar panels, 93 street lights, capable of producing 72 kilowatts of electricity daily. The total cost of the investment was estimated at 776 thousand US dollars, stationed in a village that has no factories or industries. 

Minister Basile Atangana Kouna attempted an explanation on how solar plants work during his speech when he noted that "solar streetlights capture electricity during the day and accumulate in the battery. In the night, it released the energy that feeds the lamp over a period of up to 10 hours." A 2013 report revealed that only three million Cameroonians have access to electricity rocked by untimely power cuts causing investors to lose more than 25% of their turnovers. Faced with the energy crisis gripping the country for several years, the government has decided to build in many locations, solar power plants. Mvomeka'a, is the second place in the country after the university town of Soa, to be equipped with a solar power plant.

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Ngwa Bertrand

28.Aug.2015

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