Improving living standards, Emergency Plan focus

The three-year development contigency plan by the government concerns all ten regions and will cost FCFA 925 Billion.

Seen as an innovative programme, the plan which has seven sectors also contains the names of banks that will finance the projects, as well as the conditions for success and follow-up so as to guarantee the required results.

President Paul Biya has equally in the emergency plan envisaged special projects that will be specific to parts of the country affected by specific problems like the Far North which has of late suffered from cross-border insecurity and other ills like floods. Thus, the key areas that have been cited in the plan are:

Urban development

Two major concerns which are the rehabilitation of the lighting systems in the towns of Douala and Yaounde. It intends to provide residential neighbourhoods, zones with social infrastructure, and others with electricity in the near future. In addition, all ten regional headquarters are going to witness the construction of 100 low-cost houses to ease the problem of accommodation which has of late been a nightmare especially in conglomerates in the country.

Health

Regional headquarters in the Cameroon that have until now not benefited from the services of referral hospitals will have the opportunity to see such structures put in place within the next three years. However, the nature of the buildings to house the hospitals will vary, but the other information in the document is that the technical levels of the General hospitals in Douala and Yaounde as well as the University Teaching Hospital at the University of Yaounde I will be upgraded.

Agriculture and Livestock

A special programme for the distribution of seedlings, fertilizers and farm tools, as well as pastoral and fishing support depending on the agricultural zones being considered, will be offered to farmers. Given the need for marketing the produce, the construction of markets in the ten regional headquarters and the provision of slaughter houses and storage facilities have been envisaged to help the farmers.

Roads

Since farm-to-market roads have been a major headache for long, there will be two major roads to ensure accessibility to production localities within the next three-years.

Energy

This initiative targets, principally the reinforcement and stabilisation of electricity transport lines so as to ameliorate lighting in major agglomerations. As such, the Edea-Yaounde lines and the Edea-Logbessou-Bekoko passing through Douala will be the sections that will attract attention within the programme.

Water

In concrete terms, 30 second secondary towns will be provided with potable water facilities while some 100 boreholes will be constructed in each of the ten regions of the country.

Security

Additional police and gendarmerie stations will be constructed in Yaounde and Douala. The growing nature of the population in both towns has led to an increase in insecurity, thereby necessitating the reinforcement of protection measures for people and property in the two towns as well.

Evaluated at FCFA 925 billion the “Emergency Plan for the Acceleration of Growth” has been endorsed by five banks namely: BGFI Bank Cameroon, Atlantic Bank Cameroon, Standard Chartered Bank Cameroon, ECOBANK, and the Deutsche Bank Madrid. Such facts alone are an indication that reflections on the emergency plan have been profound enough to ensure that they are realised within the stated time. That must have explained why the Head of State called for seriousness and responsibility in the award of contracts and the execution of the projects.