FEICOM calls for tactful execution of municipal housing programme.

Camille Akoa was speaking during a sensitisation workshop in Yaounde Wednesday November 22 bringing together Mayors and/or representative of councils that are to get funding within the framework of the programme.

According to the FEICOM boss, the programme has now expanded to include not less than 87 councils, as government continues to strive towards providing decent housing for Cameroonians.

He recalled that the Head of State, President Biya is pushing for this programme because it is in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal number 11, which aspires to make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. 

The programme therefore takes into account the fact that cities represent the future of global living; more so as the world's population reached 8 billion in 2022, with over half of the people living in urban areas.

Camille Akoa went on to announce that the Cameroon Mortgage Bank, Credit Foncier du Cameroun, CFC, in 2013, put at the disposal of FEICOM the sum of 30 billion FCFA, to be loaned out to councils that are in a position to benefit and execute the Municipal Housing Construction Programme.

This led to the signing of a collaboration agreement among FEICOM, the CFC and the United Councils and Cities of Cameroon, UCCC, to work in synergy so that the housing programme could be effectively delivered in due time. 

Consequently, a Pilot Committee was set up to assess and evaluate applications from councils wanting to benefit from the programme. 

The FEICOM Director General challenged the various stakeholders involved in the programme to come up with workable modalities and recommendations that would lead to the speedy realisation of the laudable aspirations of the PCCM.

Ability to repay loans topmost in approving application file

Speaking during the workshop, a representative of the UCCC said some councils applied for loan to build housing units, without taking into consideration their revenue mobilisation capabilities. 

He said since the money being loaned to councils must be paid back, the committee assesses how councils mobilise funds so as to be able to pay back the loan and interest on it.

The UCCC representative described PCCM as an opportunity for grassroots decentralised collectivities to join hands with the central government in its effort to provide decent housing to the citizenry.

On what is required in the applications submitted by councils wishing to benefit from the programme; he talked of minutes of the council meeting that authorised the Mayor to apply for the houses, a document showing the feasibility studies carried out on the project site as an integral part of other council projects.

It also has to be accompanied by a land title or a certificate from the land owner who has accepted to give out his land, or a court order stating that the land is legally available for council use. The Mayors also have to explain how the housing programme will benefit the population of their municipalities. 

Housing specificities

FEICOM disclosed that houses recommended for construction by councils fall into four categories. Category one consists of houses made up of two apartment blocks. Each apartment has one living room, one bedroom, a kitchen, a bathroom and a veranda; with the entire apartment having a surface area of 52 square metres.

The second category of houses is made up of a block of two apartments, with each apartment having one sitting room, two bedrooms, one kitchen, two bathrooms and two verandas. 

The third category of buildings also has blocks of two apartments but a building of two floors while buildings in the fourth category are described as individual lodgings. Here, the apartment has one living room, three bedrooms, one kitchen, two bathrooms and two verandas.