(Business in Cameroon) - While the lot 4 (44.9-km Yoko-Lena section) of the Nationale n° 15 Batchenga (Centre)-Ntui-Yoko-Lena-Tibati (Adamaoua) has been completed already, the five other sections are still under construction. The progress of three of them is relatively good. These are the Batchenga-Ntui (lot 1) and Léna-Sengbé-Tibati (lots 5 and 6) sections.

According to the ministry of public works, works are 58% completed on lot 1 and are handled by French company Razel. Apart from the long-range bridge being constructed over the Sanaga river in Nachtigal, the company has started the pavement works and the first kilometers of pavement are already visible.

The ground layer is being laid from Nachtigal-Ntui to pk 17 +800. 8 kilometers of coating has already been laid between Batchenga and Nachtigal (10 km). As far as the bridge over the Sanaga river is concerned, 15 out of the planned 32 cones at the Batchenga side are being built along with 14 out of the 32 cones planned for the Ntui side. “The company plans to accelerate works at the start of the dry season,” the ministry indicates.

On the 135-km Léna-Sengbé-Tibati section, works are 40.47% completed by Satom despite the pluviometry and problems encountered when residents had to free the spaces along the section’s track. According to the ministry of public works, the company is preparing the laying of pavement layers with the realization of the test board for the ground layer at the 122 + 650-kilometer point. The ministry is reassured, of the completion of works in 2020, by the company’s mobilization on the field this month (October 2019).

Challenges

Lots 2 and 3 that include the 180-km Ntui-Mankim-Yoko section are a source of concerns. Indeed, the works entrusted to Portuguese group Elevolution Engenharia (Elevo) are trampling. Last October 4, 2019, the minister of public works Emmanuel Nganou Djoumessi even cancelled the Elevo’s contract for lot 2 ( 96.7-km Ntui-Mankim section).

“The renovation of  Nationale N° 15, over a 380.1-km line, is a strong symbol of the head of states’ will to densify national economy and consolidate Cameroon’s position in the Central African sub-region, with an ongoing investment of about XAF360 billion in a complex economic environment,” the ministry of public environment says.

S.A.