A little more is unveiled on the specifications required for the construction of the first 14 electronic toll booths in Cameroon.

According to the department of public works, new booths include a ring road zone (approach area) which comprises a rigidly structured pavement of two lanes each (2 X 3.50 m in width), two shoulders of 2.00 m wide each.

A booth platform will cover two rigid pavements of two lanes each, three islets of 2.00m wide each including the entire civil engineering works, toll booths and equipment, two sidewalks of 1.50 m wide each, platform and islet sanitation, signaling and operating equipment.

As regard toll booth buildings, they will consist of a ground floor, a floor, a parking lot and a specific secure access road, a generator set and its shelter, all networks and equipment, sanitation and fences. The parking areas, on the other hand, have commercial spaces upstream and downstream of the toll booths.

The 14 toll stations to be built and the road routes are as follows : Nsimalen (Yaoundé-Mbalmayo), Mbankomo (Yaoundé-Mbankomo) ; Tiko (Douala-Mutenguene) ; Edea (Douala-Edea) ; Boumnyebel (Edea-Boumnyebel) ; Nkometou (Yaoundé-Obala) ; Bayangam (Bangangte-Bafoussam) ; Bafia (Obala-Bafia) ; Mbanga (Douala-Mbanga) ; Manjo (Mbanga-Manjo) ; Bandja (Bafang-Bafoussam) ; Matazen (Bafoussam-Bamenda) ; Foumbot (Bafoussam-Foumbot) and Dschang (Dschang-Bamougoum).

As part of the project, the Minister of Land Registry and Land Affairs (Mindcaf) was asked to sign additives to the decrees declaring public utility for the nine sites maintained at the existing posts. The project’s scope is defined according to the new design which requires development on a platform of about 300 m long and 120 m wide, taking into account the planned buildings, parking lots and shopping areas.

The other five toll stations were discussed during local consultations for a consensual designation of the new sites in response to the geophysical and agglomeration constraints of housing or small businesses.

Sylvain Andzongo

Pending the official commissioning in May this year of the 15-MW Mekin dam in Cameroon’s southern region, China Electric Engineering Corporation which was entrusted with facility development is demanding from the government XAF5 billion for extra work.

Reliable sources indicated that the company first required XAF10 billion but talks with the Hydro Mekin, the public corporation which managed the project, halved the amount. Monies will be paid after an upcoming meeting between the two sides in China, they agreed.

Hydro Mekin and the Cameroonian government, on one side, and the Chinese manufacturer and Eximbank China (which financed the project), on the other side, will each provide a detailed statement of their receivables. “Chinese owe us and we owe them too, thus before we pay the extra money they are asking for, both sides must make a detailed statement of receivables. That way we’ll know who really owes the other,” said a Cameroonian source close to the matter.

The extra fund demanded is due to some readjustments made on the projects; but Cameroon is also entitled to ask for compensation given the 3-year delay in facility delivery. For example, the delay cost Cameroon extra monies to extend supervision mission on the dam site.

Furthermore, China Electric Engineering Corporation did not complete the construction of access roads it was initially supposed to build. Remaining works were finally carried out by the Cameroonian department of public works with the government investment budget.

Brice R. Mbodiam

Ellipse Projects SAS France, the company entrusted with the installation in Cameroon of prefabricated modular steel bridges just took delivery at the port of Douala of 412 cargoes containing metal components of 44 facilities manufactured by Acrow Corporation of America.

Geoffray Terrain who manages the project within Ellipse Projects says 19 bridges are under construction; 14 of which are expected to finish this year while the 5 remaining will finish by March 31, 2020. This is a step forward for this project started five years ago.

The project received XAF25 billion from US Eximbank in Dec 2014 under an XAF46-billion loan agreement signed between Cameroon and French Société Générale.

Until March this year, the scheme was still suffering big challenges regarding cargo clearing at the port of Douala ; issues that prompted a meeting last March 8 in Yaoundé between Olivier Picard, CEO of Ellipse Projects SAS France, and the Cameroonian minister of public works Emmanuel Nganou Djoumessi, to find a solution to the permanent clearing of focus cargoes.

In detail, 11 bridges will be installed in the east, 9 in the northwest, 7 in the west and 7 others in the south. Adamaoua and the Central region will each benefit from 5 facilities, 4 for the south-west, 3 in the littoral, 2 in the north and 2 in the far north. Bridges’ sizes range between 27 and 150 m. This project is expected to significantly boost transport of goods and people.

S.A

Delivered December 2018, the 2nd bridge over the Wouri River constructed by Sogea Satom will be refurbished due to damages caused by flood.

In a press release on March 29, the minister of public works, Emmanuel Nganou Djoumessi, explains that “heavy rains in the city of Douala affected the facility located on the access ramp to the old Wouri Bridge, causing flooding on the main access section to the 2nd bridge. ”

“The water evacuation capacity of this infrastructure is reduced due, first, to the presence at its outlet of a 1200 mm water pipe implanted by Camwater [the water utility] and, on the other hand, to the obstruction of this outlet by solid materials thrown by bridge users,” explains Mr. Nganou Djoumessi.

He also pointed out that Sogea Satom, the representative of the consortium that designed and built the 2nd Wouri Bridge and its complementary installations, had already been asked to take corrective measures as part of its obligations under the guarantee period.

“A technical team of engineers from the Ministry of Public Works has joined the project team as of today [29 March 2019] to definitively determine the appropriate corrective measures to put an end to this malfunction.”

 Valued at XAF141.6 billion, this second bridge covers a 756 m long road viaduct and a 746 m rail viaduct. It is a strategic axe that facilitates traffic flow in the industrial zone and downtown Douala and connects the economic capital to the northwest, southwest and the west.

Sylvain Andzongo

The Bank of Central African States (BEAC) has just awarded Africa Corporation (AFCORP) the contract to build its agency in Ebolowa, the regional capital of southern Cameroon, according to an official statement.

AFCORP is one of the three subsidiaries of the Chadian construction group Société nouvelle d'études et des réalisations (SNER), which is already active on the construction sites of some structures as part of the Emergency Flood Control Project (PULCI) in the Far North region of Cameroon.

The Chadian group has thus secured the contract at the expense of local companies, one of which sent a letter to the President of the Republic denouncing the award of this contract to a Chadian company, accusing BEAC Governor Abbas Mahamat Tolli (photo) of having favored a compatriot who had not submitted the best offer.

Charges are denied by the Central Bank of CEMAC States, which claims that the process of awarding this contract strictly respected regulatory procedures.

BRM   

In Bafoussam, the West regional capital, construction company Razel, is currently testing roller-compacted concrete RCC for road construction as part of the “Capitales regionals” program; a scheme financed by the French government through C2D (Debt Reduction and Development Contracts).

According to an expert interviewed by Cameroon Tribune, the roller-compacted concrete makes it possible to give the road a minimum duration of 30 years, compared to 15 years conditioned by 3 to 5 years of maintenance for “bituminous concrete” (BB).

The RCC is a material used in Canada for 60 years, which enables road construction at a budget three times lower than bituminous concrete, the expert said. The material will also be used in the cities of Bertoua and Garoua.

BRM

Graves located within the way of the drinking water supply project to be implemented in Yaoundé will soon be moved. For this purpose, Dieudonné Ombala, the project manager launched on March 18, a national tender.

Work consists of moving graves located between the Nachtigal water pumping station and the Ndindan reservoir in Yaoundé. Lot 1 targets the districts of Batchenga and Obala, in the department of Lekié, where 1,176 graves (439 developed and 737 unfinished) are to be moved. Cost of the operation is XAF352.8 million.

Lot 2 concerns the districts of Soa and Yaoundé I where 419 graves will be moved, 219 of which have been developed. Estimated cost is XAF125.7 million. Overall project cost is XAF478.5 million for 1,595 graves. This equates to XAF300,000 per grave.

Eligible are Cameroonian companies based in the country and qualified for such a work. Application submission deadline is April 25 this year.

At the end of September 2018, the Ministry of Water and Energy (Minee) reported an overall progress rate of 30% for the Drinking Water Supply Project for the City of Yaoundé, from the Sanaga River.

Monies for the XAF399 water project is provided by Eximbank China. Implementation is entrusted to Chinese company Sinomach. An additional 300,000 m3/d is expected for initial phase and 400,000 m3/d in the expansion phase. This will put an end to water deficit in Yaoundé. Cities and towns along the river (Batchenga, Obala, Nkometou, Soa and Ntui) will also benefit from the project.

S.A

An inter-ministerial mission will soon visit companies operating in steel and metallurgy sectors in Cameroon to assess the current state of production capacity and quality, it is officially reported.

“It is at the end of this visit that we will consider measures to be taken, in accordance with the presidential guidelines on import control, while preserving local industry,” explains Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana (photo), Cameroonian Minister of Trade. This was during a meeting held March 5 with operators in the steel and metallurgy sectors and consumer rights associations.

Producers of sheet metal, nails, concrete reinforcement etc. have requested that government should control massive imports of these products, since local supply is largely sufficient. According to consumers, local products are ignored in favor of imported products because of their rather lower quality.

BRM

Populations will have to wait until 2020 to use the energy generated by the Memvé’élé dam though construction work on this 211 MW infrastructure was completed since 2017.

Speaking during the recent Salon Promote that ended Feb 24 in Yaoundé, the project coordinator Dieudonné Bisso (photo) said the delay is due to construction of the power transmission facilities which will not be delivered until 2020.

In detail, the construction of the 225 KV transmission line between Nyabizan (dam site) and the city of Ebolowa is complete, but work is still ongoing on the Ebolowa-Yaoundé line. Let’s recall that the Memvé’élé dam is located in the southern region of the country.

BRM    

In the aftermath of the fire that destroyed about 150 shops on the night of 23 to 24 February this year in the Congo market, the Douala urban community announced the termination “for default” of the contract to build a modern commercial space of 1,400 shops on the market site; a project initiated after yet another fire that broke out in this market in July 2012.

Works were launched in 2013 by Southwest International Construction Corporation (SICC), and were scheduled to last 2 years, before being suspended for 2 years. Upon a work resumption, the company announced delivery in 2018 but to date, not much is done.

The investment announced by the joint venture between local economic operators and American partners, was XAF7 billion and was to be carried out under the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) model, which requires SICC to build the new market according to international standards, operate it for a fixed period and transfer the site management to the State (the urban community of Douala) at the end of this contractual operating period.

According to the initial plans, the market’s new-look was to include 1,400 shops, 200 toilets, a 120-place car park, two guard gates, a police station, 16 garbage bins and a video surveillance system. The project was expected to generate 1,000 direct jobs during the construction phase, and 171 permanent jobs created at the end of the project.

The reconstruction of the Congo market is not the first project on which SICC has failed in Cameroon. For almost 9 years, this company has been slow to deliver the first buildings of a real estate project initiated in the economic capital; a project for which buyers said they have already paid about XAF1 billion while promoters reported continued financial difficulties.

Brice R. Mbodiam