Cartoons Unable to Keep Douala Clean

Recently, the Douala City Council (DCC) launched the implementation of another strategy to reduce the rate at which people litter the city. The strategy involved the drawing of cartoons and putting up of graffiti on walls of Ecole publique Deïdo and Lycée d'Akwa, which are among the most highly used roads in the city.

On the walls of the schools are found graffiti or drawings carrying different messages which communicate the necessity of keeping Douala clean and urge people not to urinate carelessly. Other powerful messages inscribed on the drawings include 'Douala without traffic jam and pot holes'. Most importantly, the messages project the need to make Douala, a clean city.

Unfortunately, this is not the case as the cartoons have not had any impact on the people. There is still dirt found almost everywhere in these sectors of the city, and even in front of the places where the cartoons have been designed. Very many city dwellers pass by ignoring the drawings and littering the roads.

Rather than fight the environmental ill, huge and stinking dumps of wastes have developed to increase the task of the Hygiene and Sanitation Company (HYSACAM) charged with disposing waste. Many residents think that the strategy is just another failure and also a waste of money as no eminent change has been seen since the realisation of this project. Fortunately, HYSACAM is employing constant efforts to cover up this failure by cleaning up the mess.