Several shops, buildings destroyed for not respecting building norms

The Douala city’s Mayor has launched a war against urban disorder and already, several shops and houses have been demolished. The Mayor’s main focus is on the real estate sector and the Nkolmitag neighbourhood has so far suffered the most.

At the Douala II municipality, reports say the fence of a building was brought down by workers of the Douala city council and Police without prior notice to the house owner. The exercise was reported to have been carried out on Sunday February 19, 2023 in the absence of the house owner with several other buildings marked for demolition.

“We tried knocking on most of the gated houses but apparently no one was home and we did not have all the time to wait so we went ahead. While starting a construction project, always ask questions and make sure you are doing the right thing else you will end up like them. The city is over crowded with buildings everywhere and they are too close to each other and sometimes we barely have roads. This exercise will hurt so many households but it is neccessary so others can learn,” the Mayor of Douala Roger Mbassa said.

Other buildings under construction have been marked for demolition by the city council agents and Police. This demolition exercise will be carried out from the Douala II to Douala V subdivisions as mentioned by the Mayor.

“I see beautiful buildings being destroyed by these council agents and I ask myself if they are aware that it is somebody’s life time savings. I have asked if these persons were notified prior to this demolition and I am yet to get a response,” Denis Menchem, an onlooker, says.

“It is good to keep the city in order but I think Cameroon government authorities should compensate the owners and in most cases, this is never done. You cannot just sit and decide to cause families pain and frustration. There are so many things that need fixing in this country but the authorities choose the ones that bring more pain to the people,” Manfred Nzang, an inhabitant of the neighborhood says.

The Mayor says most of the buildings and shops have no building permits while others have not respected building norms and have promised to continue with demolition exercise until the people are able to learn about the norms of construction.

He adds that Douala is too congested and this is increasing temperatures within the city and it is as a result of hapharzard building which does not permit a smooth circulation of fresh air.