Cameroon: Controversial Petrol, Water Scarcity …

The Minister of Energy and Water Resources, Michael Ngako Tomdio, held a press briefing in Yaounde last Friday.
Amidst controversial petrol circulating in the country with a pungent smell, raising public outcry of threats on health as well as fears of vehicle malfunctioning and the potable water scarcity that hit Yaounde and Douala, the government, through the Ministry of Energy and Water Resources has said nothing will be left to chance to restore life in the sectors. In a press briefing in Yaounde last Friday February 19, 2010, the Minister of Energy and Water Resources, Michael Ngako Tomdio, said government measures are ongoing to meet the needs of the population.
Controversial Petrol The Minister said in January, the government ordered the importation of 41,000 cubic metres of petrol to meet up with national demands given that the country's refinery outfit, SONARA, was undergoing rehabilitation. He said a company, whose name was not disclosed, charged with importing the petrol brought in the product whose smell attracted complaints from all and sundry. Mr Ngako Tomdio reiterated that the pungent smell notwithstanding, the petrol was free of any danger. He said laboratory studies carried out by an internationally-recognised Laboratory of SONARA proved the product suitable for consumption. After concertation meetings with other stakeholders, the Minister said, an agreement was reached that the product be suspended from the market and that henceforth such products would no longer be imported into the country as "the consumer is usually the king", he said.

Scarcity of Potable WaterThe Minister blamed the recurrent scarcity of potable water in Yaounde and Douala on outmoded infrastructure which he said have been functioning for decades without major rehabilitation or investments in the sector. He said the problem is further compounded by the ever-growing population in these towns, the continual expansion of the town as well as the effects of climate change, characterised of recent by excessive heat and dry land. River Nyong in Akomnyada which in the recent past had a height of four metres, he said, is today 2.2 metres. However, the Minister said, government has undertaken giant projects, which upon completion, would boost water supply in the two cities.
He said negotiations are ongoing for a project on River Sanaga in the Centre Region which upon completion will bring additional supply of 100,000 cubic metres of water daily to Yaounde. There is also a FCFA 65.6 billion Cameroon/ French Development Agency project to supply potable water to Yaounde, Ngaoundere, Edea and Bertoua. Other projects undertaken by the country's water outfit, CAMWATER, seek to rehabilitate existing infrastructure, augment production to meet demand as well as extend existing networks to new layouts. All these, Mr Ngako Tomdio said, will cost over FCFA 400 billion.