-  « The Minister of Communication ;

-   The Central Director/Radio of CRTV ;

-   General Managers of Communication Enterprises ;

-   Media professionals ;

-   Ladies and Gentlemen, dear Participants.

I welcome you to the Ministry of Public Works and thank you for your presence at this meeting; the Secretary of State in charge of Roads and all the staff of the Ministry of Public Works join me in thanking you.

In particular, the Minister of Communication, I wish to express my gratitude for your tenacious commitment to the truth against false constructions, to fight against shameful practices that are detrimental to the honour of the journalism profession; which commitment gives rise to this important mobilization of the media, for a massive participation at this press briefing.

In addition, dear Journalists, Managing Editors, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to reassure you that you will always find with me and any other member of the staff of the Ministry of Public Works, the availability and necessary requirements for the fulfillment of your honorable duty to inform, your mission to build a sound opinion, stripped of prejudices, an opinion based on facts, on palpable realities, not on presumptions, for, as you often say, facts are sacred.

Consequently, in the Ministry of Public Works, you will have each time you request, the opportunity to check and cross-check, in order to better inform.

Mr. Minister,

Media professionals,

Ladies and gentlemen.

The conception of a road that emerges as a need, is done in an office; but, it is on a site that it is built. This explains the field trips, the site visits that we conduct to identify potential hurdles with project teams in order to lift them. These site visits to assess the level of mobilization of contractors on the many construction and maintenance projects for road infrastructures and engineering structures, generate new orientations, boost the output of contractors and drive the performance of project teams.

Thus, we have appreciated the progress made by the emblematic road works of the city of Douala which include the structuring projects of the East and West Entrances, as well as the second Wouri bridge and its related facilities.

These are the projects of the « Greater Achievements » Policy that are worth recording henceforth as « Greater Successes ».

Given the importance that the President of the Republic, His Excellency PAUL BIYA grants to the completion of these works within the set timeframes, with some resulting from his international commitment, I decided to meet with you in order to share with you the evolutions on these worksites, the possible challenges, in order to shun diverging opinions, sometimes based on insufficient information.

Nevertheless, it is worth recalling that, in order to secure the continuity and guarantee the competitiveness of the transport chain both at national and sub-regional level on the Douala-Ndjaména and Douala-Bangui corridors, to improve the production capacity of the industries set up in Douala and to guarantee unhindered access to the same city, the Government, under the very high leadership of the Head of State, His Excellency Paul Biya, decided to resize the East  (19,200 km + 9 km) and West (8 km +        5 km) entrances of this city; and the construction of a second bridge on the Wouri. The projects are financially supported by the French Development Agency, for which, I want to renew to France, on the behalf of the Government, our gratitude for its ever increasing commitment to our development efforts.

Aiming at the same objective, the construction works for the second bridge over the Wouri in Douala were undertaken for a contractual cost of 106 053 374 211 FCFA ATI including the works of the Assistance to project management (3 439 241 368 FCFA ATI) and the Geotechnical Assistance to project management (1 741 262 193 FCFA). To date, the overall progress rate stands at 94,73%  and the contractual completion of works is set for September 19^th, 2018. The second bridge on the Wouri is a futuristic structure comprising a 756m/L road viaduct and a 746m/L railway viaduct. It is also a tourist attraction.

Its functionality and the need to exploit it in a modern environment generated additional amenities for easy access. These complementary developments, which equally benefitted from the financial support of France, are estimated at thirty-three billion, eight hundred and eighty two million, four hundred and sixty-six thousand, nine hundred and thirty-two (33 882 466 932) francs. These are the accesses from Deido on one side and Bonaberi on the other for a linear extent of 2.7 km. Their physical progress rate stands at 65% against 45% time consumption. It is the early start of the works that favoured this happy development.

ü  Ladies and gentlemen,

It is worth underlining that the construction of the second bridge over the Wouri, as well as the development of the East and West entrances, fall in line with the strategy to ease the circulation of persons and goods in the city of Douala. The civic attitude of road users and citizens in general ought to contribute to this.

Works on the West entrance go from KP0 + 000 (Douala 4 Council junction) to KP13+087 (Bekoko interchange).

These works are carried out in two phases: phase 1 covers 8 km with across section of 2x2 lanes with a median strip. The French Development Agency accompanies the Government for a cost for works and control of 65 615 598 209 F CFA ATI : the works progress rate stands at 94 % ; their provisional reception is programmed.

The second phase, starting from Carrefour rail KP8+115 to the Bekoko interchange will benefit from the same nature of works as soon as the funding is put in place. While waiting, the 2 x 1 lane is reinforced.

With regards to works for the development of the East entrance of Douala, the first phase of the works already completed, concerned the section from KP0+000 (Carrefour des Fleurs) to KP10+200, that is 10,2 kilometers. The total cost of the works for this phase is sixty billion, nine hundred and one million, four hundred and seventy-one thousand, nine hundred and eighty one (60 901 471 981) francs all taxes included. It is henceforth, much easier to move from ‘Carrefour Boko’ to ‘Carrefour des fleurs’.

The second phase of this project concerns the widening of the road from KP10+200 to KP19+200 (Dibamba bridge) to a six (06) lane carriageway, that is to develop a pavement of a linear extent of 9 kilometers x 3. In addition to the enlargement, the consistency of the works includes the construction of five (05) roundabouts, an underpass at the Yassa roundabout and an overpass at the Japoma roundabout to ease access to the Japoma sports complex under construction. Street lighting and other public amenities are taken into consideration.

The works of phase 2 of the East entrance to Douala have just been awarded, for a cost of 33 144 718 233 FCFA ATI, to the WEHAI INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC AND TECHNICAL COOPERATIVE CO LTD/CHINA RAILWAY 14 TH BUREAU GROUP CO LTD (WEITC/CRCC14) conglomerate; the works are expected to start, without further delay, as soon as the Project Management is chosen by the Minister Delegate at the Presidency in charge of Public Contracts.

Undoubtedly, it is appropriate to let you know that at the end of the call for tenders, 16 financial bids were recorded ranging from 26 107 203 460 F CFA to 43 920 026 485 F CFA ATI.

These bids are the following:

The Minister of Communication ;

The Central Director/Radio for CRTV ;

Media professionals,

Ladies and Gentlemen.

Let me focus on the works of the second phase of the East entrance to Douala.

As you know, the Japoma sports complex will host the competitions of the TOTAL AFCON of June 2019. In accordance with the commitments of the Head of State, His Excellency Mr. PAUL BIYA, all facilities and hosting infrastructures must be completed within the time frame set with the organizing committee.

Shortly after the overall acceptance of the works of the first phase on March 16, 2018, the Project Owner, Minister of Public Works presented to the Minister Delegate at the Presidency in charge of Public Contracts, a Tender File for the selection of a contractor for works on this important section of the road with a spirit of continuity and to capitalize on the effects induced by the works of the first phase. At the same time, discussions were engaged with the potential funding partner, the French Development Agency, for possible funding.  However, with the adjustments of the calendars for the completion of concerned road infrastructures, it was unavoidably decided to complete by March 31, 2019, a pavement of 3x2 lanes, with its related facilities, to serve the Japoma sports complex. The emergency henceforth surrounding the implementation of these works led to the use of the most appropriate public procurement method.

Therefore, I asked the Minister Delegate at the Presidency in charge of Public Contracts to authorize a direct agreement, better said, a contract by mutual agreement with the RAZEL-BEC/RAZEL CAMEROUN conglomerate ; this, for at least 04 reasons :

1.        A pavement of 3 x 2 lanes must be provided with related functional facilities to serve the Japoma sports complex, latest March 31, 2018,  a Il faut livrer une chaussée avec des aménagements de fonctionnalité de 3 x 3 voies, devant desservir le complexe sportif de Japoma, au plus tard le              31 mars 2018, hence the urgency.

2.        The RAZEL-BEC/RAZEL CAMEROUN conglomerate which carried out the works of the first phase, whose overall acceptance was pronounced on March 16, 2018 is still mobilized on the site. They are conducting works for the replacement of a battery of 04 metallic culverts by a triple box culvert; these latter works result from a mutual agreement.

3.        The said conglomerate operates a quarry not far from the site. Therefore, aggregates will be available as soon as the works start, enabling a gain in time in the treatment of the different layers of the roadway.

4.        The said conglomerate that carried out the works of the first phase had to propose unit prices of the same order, because, acting in the same economic environment, with a mastery of the cost for installation and mobilization.

It won’t charge for its mobilization and installation as would a company that is just coming in.

This is to say that the allocation of 42 865 502 437 F CFA, cannot be the cost of the works since it has not been examined by any relevant evaluation Commission. Moreover, it does not result from any bid submission.

The Minister of Communication ;

Media professionals ;

Ladies and gentlemen.

The brief review that I have just made demonstrates that the road infrastructure works currently underway in the city of Douala are carried out at best to meet the expectations of the beneficiaries, thus fulfilling the political commitments of the Head of State, His Excellency Paul Biya. The infrastructural transformation driven by the completion of these works is proof of our irreversible march towards the sustainable growth of the economy.

I cannot pretend to have addressed all the issues and I am ready to clarify any other concerns.

In any case, we count on your intermediation, to make known to all that the « Greater Achievements » policy of the President of the Republic has a deep anchorage in the city of Douala.

Thank you for your kind attention./”