Matgenie Undergoes Renaissance

The acquisition of new equipment seeks to invigorate the once vibrant outfit to efficiency.

The dark days of the National Civil Engineering Equipment Pool (MATGENIE) seem to be nearing their end. The acquisition of 120 heavy-duty equipment comprising 60 graders, 20 compactors, 10 back hoes, 10 front end loaders, 10 bulldozers and 10 bulldozers from the China National Construction Machinery Corporation marks a turning point in the history of the outfit whose hitherto managerial and financial crises plunged it into murky waters.

In an exclusive interview granted Cameroon Tribune, the General Manager of MATGENIE, Niwa Long Othon, said the equipment were requested by government within the framework of the rehabilitation of the enterprise which is charged with constructing public infrastructure.

The 120 machines, he said, are well placed to revamp the enterprise and set it back on the rails. The GM disclosed that fruit of the equipment are already visible in almost parts all parts of the country, especially in the sites of the giant projects in the country. "They are already functional in project sites like the Lom-Pangar, Mekin and Memvele'ele hydroelectric dams, Sangmelima-Djoum road in the Cameroon-Congo frontiers, Tibati-Banyo as well as in other road maintenance and construction project sites across the country," he said.

To forestall the bad practices of the yesteryears that almost crippled the company, a computer-based management system of its fleet has been put in place. All the 120 machines that drained the State of about FCFA 8 billion as well as other vehicles of the company, Mr Niwa Long Othon noted, are equipped with monitoring software, GPS, with the goal of efficiently using them for the good of the corporation and the economy of the country.

MATGENIE, records show, had a business turnover of about FCFA 4.5 billion between 1981 to 1987 but witnessed diminishing returns from 1987 with the economic crisis that hit the country. Its reawakening bell sounded on June 2, 2009 with the appointment of Mr Niwa Long Othon to give the outfit a new lease of life.