The inaugural of the gas field Friday brought out thousands of people who wanted to catch a glimpse of the Presidential couple.
Rare or never has there been an occasion in Logbaba, Ndopassi neigbourhood, Douala III Subdivision in the Wouri Division of the Littoral Region, like the crowd-pulling inaugural of the first-ever Cameroon's onshore gas production last Friday November 15, 2013. Historic was the event and the population turnout was unprecedented.
It was a rare moment for the Presidential couple, Paul and Chantal Biya, to commune with the people whom the Head of State noted are dear to him. And the communion, to say the least, was perfect and total. Initially programmed to access the natural gas field in the outskirts of the economic capital by helicopter, the Presidential couple opted for the road to a total satisfaction of the population. They came out from all the corners of the Subdivision, lined the streets and thronged the ceremonial ground like one person to say welcome to the Head of State and wife.
And when the presidential motorcade drove in an out, there was ecstasy as they waved, sang and danced as if it was their last time of waving, singing and dancing. The dusty three-km access road from the main road to the gas field notwithstanding, the Presidential couple did not cease to wave back at the elated population. Students and pupils in uniforms made the path and ceremonial ground even more beehive-like.
The Government Delegate to the Douala City Council, Fritz Ntone Ntone conveyed the people's gratitude to the Head of State whose sagacity and diplomatic clairvoyance, he observed, brought in a British firm, Victoria Oil & Gas through its Cameroon subsidiary, Rodeo Development Limited (now Gas du Cameroun) to partner with the National Hydrocarbons Corporation to transform the gas which was yesterday's danger to an asset today to marshal the country's sustainable socio-economic development. His insistence that, "there is no better gift than the gas plant. Douala is an economic centre and having good, affordable and sustainable energy is vital not only for business development but also for attracting investors needed to take our economy to a middle income one," made with thunderous shouts of approval from the sea of people who filled the site.
The energy policy of the State presented by Energy and Water Resources Minister, Basile Atangana Kouna as well as gifts from the chiefs and the traditional rulers to the Presidential couple spiced the colourful ceremony. "These gifts certainly symbolise their attachment to us and to the Republic," the Head of State said in appreciation.
President Paul Biya told the attentive, jubilant and expectant population that the plant will produce many positive economic, technological and social effects for the benefit of the population and enterprises in the city of Douala.
