MAETUR Board of Directors visit projects in Douala.

This was in the course of their 114^th management meeting that took place on August 10 in Douala. The Board of Directors of the structure, headed by its chair, Djamal Mustapha, began the inspection tour from the East entrance to Douala, where MAETUR has stakes in the building of the low-cost houses in the Dibamba. 

The next stop of the visit was in the Douala III Subdivision. While there, engineers painted a prototype picture of what the now marshy areas will look like when rehabilitation works must have been completed and what has become of the Nylon areas where the state entity has employed its technical know-how in fostering local development. 

The Douala III area project, covering a total surface area of 676 hectares of land from the neighbourhoods of Nylon, Bilongue, Tergal, Soboum, Brazzaville, Bonaloka, Oyack II, Diboum 1 and 2, CCC, Bobongo was created by presidential decree on the 23/06/1977. 

It has the objective of ameliorating the standards of living of the population in the said zones. Before the implementation of what is now referred to as "the Nylon project", land occupation in the zone was anarchical, with no good drainage system, no motorable roads, schools or other basic amenities.

Nevertheless, with co-founding from the World Bank and the Swiss government, officials say, lots of development has been brought to the zone. 

The tour also took the team to the site of a new urban area, which is still in gestation. This is located along the still to be constructed Yabassi- Yaoundé highway in the Nkam Division. 

The site in question is a 6,000-hectare land found at the PK 21 and PK 48 neighbourhoods, covering part of Bonepoupa, Diwoum, Ngoma, Massoumbou, linking the Wouri and Nkam Divisions.

Despite the bushy current state, the area is expected to be transformed into a conducive place for habitation with the provision of social amenities like low-cost housing, schools, hospitals, hotels, as well as the construction of roads for the wellbeing of the population.

Ensuring Cameroonians are well lodged 

Commenting on the visit of the Board members to Douala, Mbong Michael Mbine, Deputy General Manager of MAETUR, said the purpose is to let them have a clear view of their commitment, alongside the State, to make sure that Cameroonians who deserve to be well lodged, have well-structured area for habitation within the country's main cities like Douala. 

He added that the project in Nkam intends to double the Bonamoussadi area in the Douala V municipality.

"This area is found between Douala and Yabassi and we think that it's time for us to ensure that we occupy a larger space where a new town or city is built for decent living for all Cameroonians. That is why we came to show our Board of Directors concretely what we have been telling them in our offices in Yaoundé. This is so we can obtain the necessary momentum for the project to be accomplished," he said.

Mbine added that the completion of the projects such as that at Bobongo, Douala will evolve in splendour.

"It's a project when it comes to realisation will give a facelift to the city of Douala, which is the mirror of Cameroon as far as urban development is concerned. We have done preliminary phase in securing the land together with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development to ensure that the population concerned is involved. The intention is to make this project is successful in the near future," he added.

The management of MAETUR, at the end of the meeting, expressed the wish that these projects be realised with the help of their hierarchy and authorities that be. To date, MAETUR has produced more than 60,000 plots and developed spaces that now house nearly two million city dwellers in 15 cities in Cameroon.