Despite heavy rains: Minister orders traffic flow on Kumba-Ekondo-Titi, Bangem-Nguti roads.

The minister gave the firm instructions during a meeting held in Yaounde Thursday October 3. It was disclosed that rehabilitation work along the Kumba-Ekondo-Titi road is fast progressing while that along the Bangem-Nguti road just took off. 

The Kumba-Ekondo-Titi and Bangem-Nguti road projects are being realised by engineers of the Rapid Intervention Battalion, BIR.

The Yaounde meeting was organised to evaluate the construction work on the said roads currently being carried out in the South West Region amidst a disturbing security context. 

The meeting brought together officials from the agency in charge of carrying out the work and those from the ministry.

After an update on the progress of work underway on the Kumba-Ekondo-Titi and Bangem-Nguti sections, the minister congratulated the BIR teams for their efforts on the said projects. 

The guidelines formulated at the end of the discussions was related to improvement of the performance of the BIR teams during the ongoing rainy season.

Participants also brainstormed on the systematic maintenance of traffic, to ensure the movement of people and goods. 

With regard to the support of local residents for the projects, the instruction to inform, raise awareness and involve the traditional authorities, the elite and the local population was reiterated. 

On the 60km long Kumba-Ekondo-Titi section, the company has been mobilised and work has begun on laying the sub-base, base and tack courses. 

The teams have also begun producing aggregates and prefabricated elements, digging and laying prefabricated culverts, shaping the reinforcement for the concreted ditches and laying the concreted ditches. 

More specifically, between kilometre points 00 and 20, the base course will be spread over 7.6 kilometres, while the tack coat will be laid over 1.2 kilometres. 

As for the drainage work, 2,900 ml of the 4,800 ml of 50x50 concrete channels have already been built, as have 7,400 ml of V-shaped concrete channels.

On the Bangem-Nguti section, which is 53 km long, the work already carried out in the preparatory phase involves topographical and geotechnical studies on the first 10 km, where the work to maintain traffic flow is to be carried out, in accordance with the recommendations of the Minister of Public Works.

Military engineers, it should be said, began officially constructing the Kumba-Ekondo-Titi road in November 2022. This was after the contract was withdrawn from a civilian company.

The 60 km road linking Kumba to Ekondo-Titi has since been under the supervision of soldiers of the Rapid Intervention Battalion. 

The construction project, which began in 2017, is part of the country’s emergency plan. It is part of the Loum-Kumba-Ekondo Titi-Mundemba-Akwa-Nigeria border road.

For several years, the road suffered some interruptions due to the ongoing security crisis in the South West Region. 

Aware of the importance of the project, the Minister of Public Works, Emmanuel Nganou Djoumessi, had underlined the need for a resumption and acceleration of the project. He said that paving work would continue. Work costs are estimated to be 40,601,372,000 FCFA.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post issue No:3254 of Wednesday October 09, 2024