Roads: Salvaging The Disturbing Situation

It was no surprise that President Paul Biya during his 2023 end-of-year and 2024 New Year State-of-the nation’s address on December 31 dwelt lengthily on the worrisome situation of the country’s roads. As it is often said and rightly too, that where a road passes, development follows. But Cameroon is greatly lagging behind in the quality and quantity of this indispensable growth stimulant called roads. Almost all regions and localities are in dire need. 
Observably, so much is budgeted yearly on road construction and maintenance, looking at the budgetary allocations of concerned ministries, with results yet to be satisfactory. The little effort made in this domain is dampened by the fast decay of existing roads. A call for worry!
Like all Cameroonians who keep decrying the disturbing situation which leaves a heavy toll on life and livelihood, President Paul Biya believes something has to be done to salvage the preoccupying condition. “As you must be aware, this problem is at the core of my concerns. The related challenges are multiple, the most acute of them being the inadequacy of financial resources,” the Head of State told his fellow compatriots. 
Without however giving in to pessimism, President Paul Biya was pleased to note that, “We are also making relentless progress in this sector. I am therefore satisfied that, during this year ending, over 700 kilometres of roads were asphalted or rehabilitated nationwide.  Several related highway engineering structures were also built in the process.” The Head of State believes the disturbing situation could be improved upon with ongoing and still-to-begin road projects across the country. Construction works on the Lékié loop as well as the Kumba-Ekondo Titi and Babadjou-Bamenda roads are ongoing and will be continued, he said, at a satisfactory pace. “Regarding the Ebolowa-Kribi road, negotiations with donors, which for long were stalled by environmental issues, are finally being concluded. All the requisite measures will be taken to ensure that the construction of this road, so eagerly awaited by the populations concerned, effectively starts in 2024.” His recent instructions for the rehabilitation of the Ngaoundere-Garoua road and ongoing negotiations with the country’s financial partners for the completion of construction works on the Mora-Dabanga-Kousseri road and the rehabilitation of the Edea-Kribi and Douala-Bafoussam roads are therefore reasons to hope. President Paul Biya noted that repair of urban road networks is continuing in the towns of Maroua and Ngaoundere and announced that related programme will extend to other regional headquarters. Inhabitants of Yaounde and some cities whose roads are near horrible are certainly hoping for change. President Paul Biya disclosed that, “Motorway projects will not be left out during the coming year with, particularly, the launching of the construction of the urban section of the Yaounde-Nsimalen motorway and that of Phase 2 of the Yaounde-Douala motorway.” &nb...