Logone Dyke collapse is natural – Djoumessi

The Minister of Economy, Planning and Regional Development, Emmanuel Nganou Djoumessi, has said the collapse of the Logone Dyke in the Far North Region was strictly caused by natural factors thus not as a result of technical shortfalls of the civil engineers who reconstructed it in 2012.

“The strong current of River Logone and the rise in water levels of the Maga Dam retention lake caused a portion of the dyke to collapse. This shows that this was strictly a natural disaster.

Also, feasibility studies showed that the civil engineers did their jobs technically well,” the Minister told reporters at a press briefing on September 30 in the conference hall of the Ministry.

He said sixteen- metre portions of River Logone Dyke collapsed on September 19, ravaging crops and properties. “The 1,875 displaced persons have been re-located to new areas and local commissions put in place to handle victims affected by the tragic incident,” Djoumessi said.

He, however, said the affected persons failed to respect the 30 metres distance from the Dyke as stipulated by law for building construction and or cultivation of crops. “The most affected area was the Mayo- Danay Divison in a locality called Dongui,” he observed.

The Minister added that an inter-ministerial team paid a visit to the victims and food items and other materials were given them in a bid to help them get through the losses.

According to Djoumessi, measures such as the installation of a rapid alert system in January 2015, which will determine if the water levels are rising, will be taken seriously. A 20km road dyke relaying the Yagoua and Kousseri highway would be constructed. In addition, a 70km long Dyke would be constructed.

The Minister said the Lake Chad Basin Commission had assisted with FCFA 300 million, while the World Bank provided over FCFA 50 billion for the rehabilitation of the Dyke.

Also 3,000 bags of sand and mud have been provided for the construction of a temporary embankment, while canoes have been provided to enable inhabitants of the area cross the river.

The MINEPAT boss further highlighted that, in August 2012, when a great portion of the dyke collapsed, President Paul Biya instructed the reconstruction of the Dyke to avoid future problems.

The work was carried out by SERMY and the Military Engineering Corps. That same year, MINEPAT, together with the Ministry of Defence, through its Engineering Corps and SEMRY, reconstructed critical points of the Dyke to prevent over flow.

The Logone Dyke was constructed in 1974 to protect the population and rice cultivation zones from rising waters of River Logone which is a border River between Chad and Cameroon.

The Dyke was constructed on a distance of 85 km on the left bank of the river from Yagoua to Pouss.

Also, at the end of the same decade a water retention lake was created in Maga by constructing a 27 km long dyke between Pouss and Guirvidig.