Douala: Councillors hail City Mayor for effective collective governance.

The councillors were in one accord in show of appreciation to the accomplishments of the City Mayor since he took over at the helm of the Douala City Council in 2020.

The mayor, from the time he took office till date, has always stressed on the need to implement an effective scheme of governance which would ensure the participation of all the Councils in Wouri division.

Dr. Mbassa Ndine had envisioned to transform the city of Douala into a modern metropolis in the heart of central Africa, while ensuring better living standards for denizens.

He had within two years placed his interest on infrastructural development, construction and rehabilitation of roads linking the various councils and/or subdivisions, ensure the maintenance of the mangroves, hygiene and sanitation, ensure smooth transition to circular economy, support the development of local football clubs, subsidised healthcare for denizens, amongst others.

While addressing his collaborators, the City Mayor did not fail to reiterate the fact that his job would not have been successful without the contribution of them all. He said it was his duty to render account to those elected to oversee the development of the community. The City Mayor went further to present a balance sheet of activities carried out in 2022, and those to be done in 2023.

He, however, noted that judging from the people’s demand, more still has to be done. In a thirty seconds video projection, Douala denizens could be seen acknowledging the work of the City Mayor especially with regards to road maintenance, hygiene and sanitation and the fight against flood.

"If we have had news of floods in Cameroon last year, it was certainly not the case in Douala; we made sure that canals were built in flood-prone areas to avoid such occurrences," he added.

"I must say since the City Mayor came to the City Council, a lot has changed. We had bad roads and that perturbed traffic around Bonakwa'uang. But of recent that road has been rehabilitated; the situation is now better as compared to the past," a denizen said.

Denizens want stringent security measures

Some went further to ask for more. The denizens demanded for stringent security measures, provision of pipe-borne water in several neighbourhoods, street lighting, just to name but these.

Worthy of note is the fact that for the year 2023, the City Council had budgeted the sum of 59.5 billion FCFA. The City Mayor recalled that part of the budget has been designated for the improvement of sectors that will be beneficial for the wellbeing of denizens. It was revealed that in the nearest future, heavy-duty trucks will be prohibited from circulating in areas where roads are at risk of destruction, just as it is the case with commercial motorbikes.

The Douala V municipality will see the construction of a modern shopping mall.

Dr. Mbassa Ndine warned roadside vendors to be aware of the imminent presence of more competitors.

"The city is attracting more and more investors in shopping malls. There is a supermarket under construction in Douala V. It is important that small traders in the markets know that they have bigger competitors. The City council will therefore try to improve on the state of the markets so that they can meet the demands of the population with regards to the quality and the place of exhibition of the products. This will also help us fight against pandemics like cholera," he added.