Bonapriso, Akwa, Bois des Singes, Makepe Missoke, Mabanda, Village, Ndogbong, Newtown Aereoport, Bepanda, Nkololoun, Bongo city Berge and Bonamoussadi are quarters that are yet to recover from a torrential downpour that took place in the early hour of Friday 21 August 2020 in the economic Capital of Cameroon(Douala).
About 5000 families are yet to recover from a torrential rain that poured in the economic city of Cameroon (Douala) leaving behind heavy materials lost and many family homeless.
The rains started at about 4 am and disrupted the daily activities of most city dwellers as many were compelled to stay home based on a communiqué signed that day by Dieudonné Ivaha Diboua,Governor of the Littoral region asking the city dwellers to stay home for fear of the unknown.
The United Nations recently reported that heavy rainfall from the month of July will cause rivers to overflow in many cities in Cameroon and particularly Douala.
The city of Douala is geographically in a mangrove ecosystems thus creating sensitivity to extreme events, particularly to the rise of sea levels.
During the past decades, several cities in Cameroon has witnessed similar incident such as droughts, floods, heartwaves and storms sometimes causing lost of lives and materials.
“The massive increase in the population of Douala, lack of proper town planning, poor drainage system and climate change has contributed to the increase of floods in Cameroon and more particularly Douala” ,our reporter gathered from an inhabitant of Bonapriso,a residential quarter in Douala 1 sub-Division.. “This today translate to a situation in which large portions of the city’s surface area and the populations they harbour are very vulnerable to the city habitual annual floods” narrated by another inhabitant.
The minister of Territorial Administration ,Paul Atanga Nji on Monday 24th August 2020 visited victims of Makepe Missoke in Douala 5 Sub-Division and other Quarters affected by the floods where he handed relief materials support from the head of state and wife after he visited floods victims in Edea still in Littoral Region .The minister urged the local population to work hand in glove with municipal and administrative authorities in order to avoid the recurrent of floods in that locality, he reveals that the city of Douala needs at least 240 kilometres of drainage system as partial measure to curb with the problem of floods in the city.
While many Quarter suffered materials damage,Makepe Missoke in Douala 5 municipality paid a heavier price as hundreds of inhabitants are today homeless. Our homes are completely shartered, we have nowhere to go,a (34) years old man in Makepe Missoke told our reporter.This situation is happening after the former Government Delegate to the Douala city council Dr.Fritz Ntone Ntone was allocated billion of CFAF to solve the problem of poor drainage system in the city of Douala and more particularly in Makepe Missoke.
For many years, the Government has called for respect of construction code in the country as well as maintenance of river banks and city drainage, but enforcement by local authorities has been weak and irregular maintenance.Recently, Government Delegates were replaced by city mayors to enforce the process of decentralisation which will give total autonomy to local authorities to decide on the development and fate of their cities without interference from the central Government .Let’s wait and see.
