Yaounde-Nsimalen highway a danger to population
The newly opened highway in the Centre region of Cameroon is fast becoming a danger to the population who have difficulties crossing due to the nature of the road.
Since it was made accessible in Januray 2022, commuters have been deploring the attitude of drivers who are always on high speed and also insufficient crossovers:
“Children sometimes get to school late because they stand for hours on the road just to cross. Us the parents even find it more difficult ” a parent living in Nsimalen complains.
The Minister of housing and urban development has recognised the need to add crossovers to the already existing two but blames the preoccupying situation on a sudden change in population density:
“When the project was announced, two crossovers were rehabilitated because just few people lived there but since the start of the first phase of works in 2016, houses pop up on a daily. We must build 2-4 new crossovers to keep the people safe” Celestine Ketcha Courtes reassured.
During an inter-ministerial visit on the Yaounde-Nsimalen highway recently, the Secretary General at the Prime Minister’s office Seraphin Magloire Fouda insisted that crossovers be built as well as gates to stop stray animals from getting to the road. Video surveillance cameras have been announced as well to check over-speeding vehicles while zebra crossings should be drawn to ease movement of pedestrians.
These amendments would increase the amount estimated for the construction of this first phase which already moved from F CFA 154 billion to F CFA 200 billion. The company in charge of the construction, Sistemics, is expected to give an estimated budget in the coming days.
