By DOH JAMES SONKEY
Officials of the central and devolved services of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development and stakeholders in the sector have pledged to accompany Minister Celestine Ketcha epouse Courtes in her daunting task to restore sanity and give facelift to cities and housing in Cameroon.
They pledged their support to her last January 25, 2019 as they gathered at the esplanade of the ministry at the Emergence Building in Yaounde to present New Year wishes to Minister Celestine Ketcha Courtes and Secretary of State to the Minister in charge of Housing, Marie Rose Dibong.
Expressing gratitude to the President of the Republic, Paul Biya for giving her the opportunity to serve the nation at the start of his Greater Opportunities mandate, the Housing and Urban Development Minister prayed that she lives up to expectations with the collaboration of all stakeholders.
She stressed that while in office, she will do her best to always place humanity at the centre of her actions as prescribed by the Head of State in order to promote a world in which, individuals can benefit from different rights and equal opportunities offered by towns.
The Minister explained that all town renewal strategies and policies ought to be characterized by interaction between harmonious urbanization and job creation, quality of living conditions and subsistence opportunities.
The Ministry of Housing and Urban Development is expected from 2020 to implement many commitments undertaken by Cameroon to promote resilient, competitive and attractive towns, she announced.
The New Year wishes presentation ceremony came to crown a series of field trips undertaken by the Minister last January 22, 2019 to inspect the level of construction of the 1300 social houses scheme in Yaounde and roads linking different parts of Yaounde and its environs with the Paul Biya modern stadium at Olembe in the nation capital and last January 24, 2019 to assess road construction projects within the framework of the 2019 African Nations Cup initially slated for Cameroon before the withdrawal of hosting rights by CAF.
At the Olembe Low Cost Housing scheme site, Minister Ketcha Courtes questioned contractors on how they intend to deliver the houses by February ending given that there was no work ongoing in some of the uncompleted buildings. The contractor reassured the Minister that they will make up for the lost time in order to respect terms of their contracts with the government. She was accompanied by Secretary of State in charge of Housing, Marie Rose Dibong and Deputy Director General of the Urban and Rural Land Development and Equipment Authority, MAETUR, Mbong Michael.
From Olembe, the Minister and her delegation visited newly created roads linking the Paul Biya station to Ngoulmekong in the Yaounde V Subdivision as well as all the AFCON projects sites in the nation capital.