After Damascus, about a year ago, a landslide, this time caused by the abandonment of the dyke of a lake, caused around thirty deaths in the Mbankolo district of Yaoundé, on the evening of October 8, according to a provisional assessment drawn up on the morning of October 9 by the government. What assessment does you, an urban planner, make of this disaster?
We first bow to the memory of the victims and wish our most sincere condolences to the saddened families. Coming back to your question, we believe that; certainly disasters can happen, but we could have anticipated this already by taking into account the weather forecasts, but also by taking measures to reinforce and secure the dike which failed. We certainly do not have the exact information but we may have some questions about the maintenance measures for this dike. Was it cracked? Was it already showing signs of deterioration? as many questions as we can ask you.
According to the findings made on the ground by our reporter, the disaster occurred in an uneven area, declared dangerous. Should we build on such areas? If so, under what conditions ?
I will surprise you here by answering yes we can build in such areas; we have several examples in countries like Brazil or even Italy and even France; this on condition of respecting precise specifications for the construction of housing on the side of the mountains unfortunately in our context it is generally the most deprived who occupy these plots, so it should be the opposite.
Yaoundé, also called the city of seven hills, has neighborhoods with a similar appearance; the case of Damascus was also mentioned. What are the necessary preliminary precautions that populations must take before building in dangerous places?
As a preliminary precaution, obtaining an urban planning certificate before any establishment on a plot is essential. Remember that the city of Yaoundé has a newly developed Urban Master Plan and Land Use Plans. The town planning certificate gives you the rules or town planning regulations on the plot you want to occupy. Unfortunately, despite town planning certificates which clearly indicate areas at risk or prohibited from construction, populations very often use corruption to establish themselves at their own risk. Another precaution is the support of professionals, town planners, architects, engineers for any type of installation on a plot.
What is the responsibility of the State in this type of disaster?
The State’s responsibility here is to guarantee the security of people and property; it must do everything possible to protect the lives of Cameroonians. Hence the urgency of true decentralization. Do our CTDs have the financial, material and human capacities (well-trained human resources) to control the anarchic occupation? I doubt. It is not enough just to say risk area, do not build. Operational security measures must be taken in these areas in order to effectively prevent populations from putting themselves in danger.
The State insists on raising awareness among populations to prevent them from building on dangerous sites. Should we not go beyond this awareness?
The State is right to insist on awareness; we even think that awareness needs to be accelerated. I’m going to have fun asking people in the street one day, asking them if they know the job of town planner? Did you know that to build in town, you need authorization? you will be very surprised by their answers.
How should we build/design the urbanization plan for a city at a height like Yaoundé given that we cannot always predict the vagaries of nature which evolve with climate change….
Just return to the norm and give the city’s trade professionals the means to work. In our country it is a doctor, a historian who builds the city; teachers build the houses. We are in a country where most people are out of place, hence the result we are seeing with disasters that could have been avoided.
Do you think that the State, the urban community, the district municipalities, really play their role in terms of urbanization in Cameroon?
The answer to this question is much more complicated than that. I would respond to the Cameroonian with a question too. Do the CTDs have the human material and financial planning resources to really play their role in terms of urbanization in Cameroon? To this question and with my modest experience I would say no.
