By Doh James Sonkey
Public Works Minister, Emmanuel Nganou Djoumessi has declared that Mora-Dabanga-Kousseri road in the Far North Region is government’s top priority. To justify his statement, the Minister indicated that reconstruction work on this road started in April 2024 on the Mora-Tchakamari section and calls for tender was launched last June 2024 for the recruitment of companies to be mobilised at Tchakamari (PK25) to Waza (PK 66), Waza (PK66) to Zigague (PK 112,575), Zigague (PK 112,575) to Kabo 2 (PK 166) including the Tildé Bridge, Tilde (PK166) to Kousseri – Customs (PK 203) and the construction of the bypass road of Kousseri of close to 7,5 Km.
Reacting to the media recently, the Public Works boss explained that “I precisely instructed my collaborators to proceed with the treatment of bad spots on the Dabanga-Maltam-Kousseri section”. On the ground, he explained that the torrential rains that have been recorded for some times now, are leading to the formation or multiplication of critical points. He said during the last dry season, “we worked to upgrade this road. The traffic was absolutely acceptable, the speed of traffic was not 80-90-100Km/h but it was at least 60Km/h to go from one point to another. The rains have come, but it just so happens that large Lorries from neighbouring countries that don’t respect the gauge, are driving on this road. We note that this road is not experiencing any traffic disruption. Critical points that require appropriate treatment have been identified, and measures are being taken to this end,” he added, stating that: “Specifically, I have instructed the most critical points on the Dabanga-Maltam-Kousseri section to be dealt with.”
Minister Emmanuel Nganou Djoumessi said the action underway has enabled traffic to be restored at a point in the locality of Dabanga, about 1 km from the centre of Dabanga, in the Dabanga-Waza section. The Minister stressed that the deployment of the relevant services of the Ministry of Public Works consists in intervening to eliminate the potential points of disruption of traffic. “In practical terms, this means gradually dealing with the critical points identified on the Mora-Dabanga-Kousseri road,” he said. The Public Works boss stressed that, “we have undertaken to rebuild this road, and the process has been launched. While we wait for the work to start, measures have been taken to ensure that traffic can flow from one point to another. I would ask road users to respect these measures and the rain barriers that have been installed, and I am banning vehicles of over 13 tonnes and oversize vehicles from using this road.” He concluded that “All these measures will enable us to ensure traffic flow before work begins on rebuilding the remaining sections. Cameroon is receiving support from the World Bank for this. I would like to take this opportunity to reiterate our gratitude, the Government’s great gratitude to this financial partner who has remained by our side, and I would like to express the very high appreciation of the President of the Republic of Cameroon for his efforts on behalf of our country.”
He also indicated that “just like in other parts of the country, our teams are equally in the field in the South West region for the treatment of degraded spots on the Mile 16 section. This section which goes from Mutengene to Buea is found in Fako Division. Heavy rains must be taken into consideration as it hinders the acceleration of work in the field.”