(Business in Cameroon) - The Agricultural Investment and Market Development Project PIDMA aimed at boosting the production of corn, sorghum and Cassava for agro-industries in Cameroon and for which World Bank disbursed CFA50 billion will soon launch a programme for the renovation of 190 kilometers of rural roads in the country to connect the agricultural production basins to markets.

According to information revealed on August 6, 2018, during a sensitization workshop organized in Mbalmayo, in the Central region, five regions will be considered in the framework of that programme. These are namely the Centre, the South, the Coast, the West, and Northwest.

During the workshop, World Bank and PIDMA’s coordination unit informed that the works would be realized following the CEROQ contracts (Qualified Objective Maintenance and Rehabilitation Contracts) considered to be less costly and takes less time. “This method is crucial for the country because it will help go into second generation agriculture” Thomas Ngué Bissa, the national coordinator of PIDMA said.  

Peter Tanifor, manager of World Bank’s transport unit in the Central African region, explained that the CEROQ contracts consist in prioritizing renovation methods suitable to the users’ needs over the classical methods.

“For instance, if the ministry of agriculture indicates that to move products from Nguélémedouka (in the East) to Yaoundé (in the Central region), the user only needs bikes, the engineer will build roads suitable for bikes only. In short, the road will be built according to the need expressed”, he said.

PIDMA’s managers further explained that during the test phase, they obtained competitive and acceptable costs for the project. The said method will also help tailor the works so as to guarantee the viability of the renovated rural road and avoid important variation between the works to be done, from planning to execution.

BRM