Water situation worsens despite ongoing water projects

Water is life, yet it seems to be as scarce some cities as dog’s tears. Taps in areas like Damas in Yaounde have not been running for some years now. Damas like Oyom-Abang and Minkoa Meyos are struggling, but authorities say the radiant nature of some of these areas is not helping matters.

Figures from the Ministry of Water Resources and Energy indicate that the Akomnyada Water Treatment Plant, alongside others, supply the city with 150,000 cubic metres of potable water a day. Demand for the city stands at 220,000 cubic metres a day, but efforts are underway to bridge the 70,000 cubic metres of daily demand/supply shortfall.

Government represented by the Ministry of Water Resources and Energy and an Indian Firm on December 1, 2014, signed agreement for an emergency project to supply additional 50,000 cubic metres of potable water to Yaounde.

The FCFA 49.196 billion project that consisted of building a water treatment plant in Mefou in the Nsimalen neighbourhood, some 17 kilometres from Yaounde, was expected to last six months, as per the terms of the agreement. Three months into the contract, thirsty Yaounde inhabitants are yet to see the project takeoff.

However, there is hope that the Cameroon Utilities Corporation, CAMWATER, will ensure better management in the provision of water to Yaounde.

The company is the beneficiary of FCFA 36 billion whose loan agreement between the government of Cameroon and the US branch of the Export/Import Bank and the Société Général for its emergency project was signed yesterday.

The Minister Delegate in the Ministry of the Economy, Planning and Regional Development, Yaouba Abdoulaye, the General Manager of the Société Général, Philippe Le Roch and Eximbank’s representative, Philips Lee, sealed the deal.

Cameroon Tribune learnt that the project will last 12 months. “The equipment are ready and set for shipment. We were just waiting for this contract to be signed,” a source said.

The General Manager of CAMWATER, William Sollo, said another agreement might be signed in some time to come for additional 250,000 cubic metres daily water supply in Yaounde.

This will come to bridge the demand and supply gap in the city, he explained. He announced the third phase of the project that will take CAMWATER to Buea, Mutengene and Tiko in the South West Region.

Quizzed on follow-up mechanisms put in place to guarantee the effective implementation of the project, Cameroon Tribune was told that government was going to recruit a third party engineering firm to supervise work on the ground in addition to supervision from CAMWATER technical department.

However, the commitment is there with follow-up measures in the loan agreement in case any party does not respect certain clauses of the terms of contract.