Douala traders chased out of Carrefour Ndokoti

Since Monday, October 27, 2014, a strong team of police officers and municipal police have been deployed in this streets to meet sanitation needs.

Not the shadow of a hawker or sale of CDs at the place called "Tradex Ndokoti" is sighted on Monday, Oct. 27, 2014 as two riot police and gendarmerie trucks were parked in these places since Sunday, to reinforce the order.

The intersection is manned by men in uniform with each entry having police directing traffic which has become very fluid for both vehicles and pedestrians. Motorcycle riders strictly adhere to their points of loading and unloading, they are monitored closely by team of the Municipal Police heavily deployed on the ground.

The Police and the Gendarmerie arrived around 10 pm Sunday as most hawkers had already returned to their homes. Counters were taken, as well as some goods seized.

However, the traders cried foul saying, "Before making decisions, they should think. They have to build markets before they clear us out. I think that it is a scam," shouted Jean Claude Fokou, a seller of watches and sunglasses.

Cursing the work of the Urban Community of Douala and law enforcement, the father of two children, thinks they should first resettle traders before claiming to bring order to the Carrefour Ndokoti.

Unlimited Duration

According to Edward Moune, the Municipal Police, the deployment of staff of the Council and law enforcement at the intersection will last for an indefinite period.

"We first became aware of the trouble we have with banners displayed everywhere. There was a dateline needed to be respected," he said.

Two teams were formed by the Council to carry out this operation. The first has to be present every day between 6 am and 2 pm while the second group will take over from 2:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m..

Council has provided a market place called "Syncatex" as traders refused to join for several years. "We will make every effort to return the order, so that Ndokoti will be cleaned," said Edward Moune who also said that the operation was planned long before the truck accident that left nearly eight dead and several wounded in the tunnel.

But very few of the users interviewed in this intersection, although flattered by the new face of Ndokoti after the intervention of the Community don't believe in the sustainability of the operation considering previous experiments.