Douala, Yaounde inhabitants say dirt abandoned by Hysacam makes them sick

Inhabitants of Yaounde and Douala have complained about the visible absence of workers from the hygiene and sanitation company, HYSACAM, in many neighborhoods. This has led to the gradual increase in the quantity of dirt along many roads in the cities leading to an almost unbearable stench in the affected areas.

Markets have been the most affected and a good example is the Rail market in Douala. “Sometimes the dirt piles up so much so that we even lack a space to move around or sell. We are ashamed to even sell sometimes. The worst is food or anything edible. How can we be selling food around so much dirt? It even smells so bad,” a market worman in Douala laments.

Dwellers in Yaounde and Douala have urged the Cameroon government to solve whatever problem Hysacam is facing so they can have their health back andstop suffering from diseases such as malaria, cholera and typhoid which affect them and their kids on daily basis.

Hysacam has been inactive and invisble in the field since October 2022, the people reveal. They are forced to either make available their own small trash positions around their homes, dump dirt in water or by the roadside which often pollutes the entire environment and brings in mosquitoes and other insects.

“We are not able to empty our trash and we are tired of sometimes paying 500frs for someone to help me take off my trash. I cannot be paying that all the time so I resulted to digging a little hole around my home where my family and I can dump dirt and burn when its full,” Ernestine Wani who is a house wife in the Essos neighborhood of Yaounde says.

“Mosquitoes will finish us here. In fact I personally have spent so much money on my health not to talk of my kids to cure malaria. The environment stinks so bad that we cannot even seat outside our homes. In fact to eat sometimes is hard. We are begging for the government to caution Hysacam company so they either get back to work or we know we are solely responsible for our garbage,” Moses Ngachu, an inhabitant of Douala says.

The Essos area in Yaounde has been noted for its large amounts of garbage and most of it has been there since 2022.

“Sometimes I cannot understand why a whole Yaounde, Cameroon’s major capital city will look so dirty. How do tourists look at our country? Yaounde is supposed to be the cleanest city in Cameroon to stand as an example for others but it turns out to be the worst. So many issues plague the town and our government is quiet. How can a city have such issues since October 2022 and its 2023 nothing has been done?” Charles Muriel Ngando, a Yaounde inhabitant wonders.

The area around Boulangerie du Rail Douala has been reported to have a similar case especially around the market and sometimes the road is blocked due to the fact that huge garbage piles occupy the entire road causing unnecessary traffic.

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