Douala – Bessengue: Families rendered homeless in demolition exercise

Several inhabitants of the Valley Bessengue neighbourhood in Douala, watched their houses get bulldozed on January 5th by authorities of the Wouri division under the supervision of Guy Emmanuel Tchapnga, Wouri Senior Divisional Officer (SDO).

He explained pipelines and drainage systems will be constructed on the site:

“The pipelines, will enable us supply gas and fuel to the entire country”.

The SDO also explained that the exercise was not random and the population had been warned before:

“We did not just get up and brought this bulldozer to bulldoze these houses. Before this demolition we have held series of meetings with the population and traditional rulers. So the are aware”.

Notwithstanding, the population felt mistreated, “We came here in 1982. Despite the swampy nature of the area, we decided to construct our houses here. We had to put in lots of money especially in the building of the foundation. We know the government is aiming for emergence come 2035, but then, we should be compensated,” an affected inhabitant commented.

“The Senior Divisional Officer had promised that we would be compensated. But to my greatest surprise, nothing has been given to us,” the victim continued.

“They are demolishing houses that are not even close to the road,” another victim said.

Contained by anti riot police elements deployed, the demolition victims implore authorities to allocate them a site where the can shelter themselves and protect what is left of their property.