Centre Region: Public Works Minister commissions Meteing-Yoko-Lena highway.

 
The commissioning ceremony took place Thursday in the town of Yoko. The strategic stretch of road was opened to the public during a two-day working visit of Minister Nganou Djoumessi to the Centre and Adamawa regions.
During the working visit, the minister will also commission the Lena-Tibati-Ngatt section (169,299 km) as well as inaugurate several socio-economic infrastructures carried out during the construction of the National Road No 15.
He has also been evaluating the progress made on the Ntui-Ndjolė, Ndjolė-Mankim and Mankim-Meteing sections under construction.
The Meteing-Yoko section, including the asphalting of 11 kilometers of roads in the city of Yoko which has been put to use, integrates the length of newly tarred roads to be delivered by the Ministry of Public Works at the end of 2023. 
The works carried out have given a new face to the city of Yoko, both in terms of paved roads, access to basic social services and the construction of other related infrastructure. 
The Lena-Tibati-Ngatt section which will also be officially commissioned by the Minister of Public Works, constitutes an example in the implementation of road infrastructure projects. 
In fact, the construction of 137 km of road between Lena and Tibati was initially planned.
The savings done both in the contract award and the optimization of technical choices, made it possible to extend the said stretch to be paved by 32,299 km and to improve the quality of the socio- economic infrastructures created in the area within the framework of the project.
The sections that are completed or under construction on Nationale Road No 15 falls in line with the implementation of phase 1 of the Transport Sector Support Program, co-financed by the African Development Bank, AfDB, the Development Bank of Central African States, BDEAC, the French Development Agency, the Japanese International Cooperation Agency, the Islamic Development Bank and the Republic of Cameroon. 
Out of the 423.6 km of the said phase, 1,255.924 km have been completed namely: Batchenga - Ntui including the construction of a major bridge over the Sanaga River in Natchigal (21.3 km), Meteing - Yoko (20 km), Yoko-Lena (45.325 km), Lena-Sengbe-Tibati-Ngatt (169.299 km), as well as a cumulative 840 linear meters of engineering structures. 
The sections under construction concern the Ntui-Ndjolé road, including the development of 70 km of municipal roads, Ndjole- Mankin and Mankim-Meteing.
Regarding the socio-economic developments for the populations along the National Road No 15, it has been revealed that the objective of which is to connect the Centre and Adamawa regions via Tibati, 68 projects have to date been completed and 51 others are in progress, making a total of 119 projects distributed in the localities impacted by the project. 
These include, among others, the construction of community halls, multifunctional centers for the youth, bus stations, agricultural stores, health centers, dryers, livestock markets, boreholes and potable water points, schools, the development of municipal roads, market sheds and the installation of solar panels.
Authorities say the construction of National Road No 15 constitutes the symbol of the commitment President Paul Biya to work for the economic development of Cameroon, through the opening up of major agricultural production areas. 
The implementation of the Program, upon its completion, will also contribute to achieving the objectives of National Development Strategy, SND-30, while reducing the Centre-North connection by two hours.