ü The Minister of Communication and all his callaborators ;

ü Dear editorial Directors ;

ü Dear Journalists ;

ü Dear media partners ;

ü Ladies and Gentlemen.

I hereby welcome you at the Ministry of Public Works and I am happy of your respective presence, within the framework of the constructive exchange that we will have, in order to edify the public on the situation of road infrastructures in our country.

I would like to heartily salute the presence of the Minister of Communication and all his collaborators who are here with you.

ü Dear Journalists,

I would first of all like to tell you that the Secretary of State in charge of Roads, my collaborators and every staff of the Ministry of Public Works who are all present here, will be available to listen and accompany you in the exercise of your noble duty to inform the public by giving the right information.

For our exchange exercise of this day, I wish to recall that government’s programme of connectivity by road, which is at the centre of our exchange, will dwell on the following points:

• The development of the Cameroonian stretches of the sub-regional and regional corridors ;
• the construction, rehabilitation and maintenance, as the case may be, of national and so called « provincial » roads;
• the construction, rehabilitation or maintenance, as the case may be, of divisional or rural roads.

In this relation, the development of sub-regional corridors contributes to the integration of the economies of the Central African sub-region, by providing a maritime façade to certain countries, like the Republic of Chad or C.A.R, through the Douala Autonomous Port, for their international trade; the development of the Douala-Ndjamena and Douala-Bangui corridors are in line with this exigency of the promotion of the economy and solidarity. The development of the Yaounde-Brazzaville corridor comes to foster the increasingly dense exchange between Cameroon and North Congo and even beyond. The objective of the Bamenda-Enugu corridor is to facilitate exchanges between Cameroon and Nigeria, while ensuring the competitiveness of our products.

Talking about national and other roads, the objective is also to preserve the security and comfort of users during the transportation of goods and persons. This means that the level of service of any road, corridor, national, “provincial”, divisional as well as rural road must, at any time, be upgraded and maintained.

Consequently, anticipation measures on early degradations, regular and more rigorous inspections of the state of the network extend the life span of our road infrastructures through prevention.

Be it as it may, connectivity by road as decided by the President of the Republic enhances permanent links between agglomerations, from production pools to consumption centres through the development of infrastructures for the evacuation of produce; this means that we have to ensure the following:

• connection of divisional headquarters to regional headquarters by upgraded roads ;
• connection of sub-divisional headquarters to divisional headquarters by upgraded roads;
• connections between sub-divisions ;
• etc.

It is to this end that is carried out the disenclavement of agricultural, pastoral, fishery or touristic production Basins which is underway. For example, the upgrading works of the Emana-Monatele roads have been started, as well as those of the disenclavement road of the West or Ekong-Bengbis agricultural Basins.

This action of disenclaving production basins associated with the development of road, approach or accompaniment infrastructures give impetus to the implantation of production units, thereby stimulating economic activity.

Thus, considerable financial allocations have been reserved for the development of road infrastructures, through construction, rehabilitation and maintenance works. Thus, for the year 2017, out of a budget of 461 billion 904 million CFA F, 100 billion has been allocated to the road aspect of the Triennial Emergency Plan to accelerate Growth (PLANUT), 12 billion will be transferred to Councils for the maintenance of priority council roads;

321 billion CFA F will be used for the construction of roads and other infrastructures, and 118 billion 857 million CFA F is earmarked for the rehabilitation and maintenance of roads and other infrastructures.

The Minister of Communication;

Dear editorial Directors;

Dear journalists;

As of date, the national road network has a total length of 122 222 Km, comprising:

• National roads (7 107 km) ;
• Provincial roads (5 695 km) ;
• Divisional roads (7 867 km) ;
• Rural roads (101 553 km).

The priorization of 1999, amended in 2013, retained a priority network of national roads, provincial roads and divisional roads of 20 669 km, on which are concentrated all interventions, representing 17 % of the existing length.

On the other hand, the length of the paved network as of today stands at 6 691 Km, that is 5.47 % of the total length; it is constantly increasing and by 2018, it is expected to increase not only quantitatively but also qualitatively by more than 1 651 km, with the following projects:

1. The execution of the many road construction projects underway using ordinary own internal resources, or with the collaboration of bilateral or multilateral technical and financial partners, or through PLANUT: for example the construction of the Kumba-Mamfe road in 2 lots (150.8 km), about 79 billion CFA F, the second Bamenda access (20 km) 13 billion 400 million CFA F, etc.

1. The construction of highways : the Kribi-Lalabe (43.3 km) 250 billion CFA F or the Yaounde-Douala highways.
2. The pursuing of the economic pavement programme of secondary modern traffic roads by surface dressing or using the cold type CARBONCOR  double surface dressing for example.

1. The rehabilitation of paved roads that have reached the limit of maintenance; this is the case with the Babadjou-Bamenda road (52 km) whose contractualization procedure has been finalized, the Yaounde-Bafoussam-Babadjou road (241 km in three lots), the Maroua-Mora road (62 km) or the Mandjou- Ekokan (45 km) and the Ekokan- Batouri (45 km) roads.

1. The implementation of the maintenance management programme per level of service of the newly constructed or rehabilitated roads identified: example the Foumban-Manki (40 km) or the Djoum-Mintom (98 km) roads.

1. The pursuing of the reinforcement or routine maintenance programmes of the following paved roads: Ngaoundéré-Garoua (234 km) in three lots, Mbalmayo-Sangmélima, Ebolowa-Ambam ….

1. The improvement of the state of engineering structures by the construction of several bridges throughout the network and by the mastery or replacement of metallic culverts with concrete structures.

The enclosed fascicule explains it all.

In 2016, 310.2 km of new roads were paved; they include:

• The Djoum-Mintom-Congo border road ; Phase 1, 98 km ; 57.2 billion CFA F (NR9) ;
• The Foumban-Manki road; 40 km, Cost : 22 billion CFA F (NR6);
• The Douala Eastern Entrance; Phase 1, 19.2 km ; 60.901 billion CFA F (NR3) ;
• The Bachuo Akagbe-Mamfe–Ekok road; 83 km ; 54.4 billion CFA F (NR6) ;
• The Zoétélé–Nkolyop road; 30 km; 17.9 billion CFA F (D34).

In the same vein, 83 km of secondary roads were constructed within the framework of the pavement of modern traffic roads.

As illustration, the following projects are executed in keeping with the above programmes:

• road construction : 26 major projects are under execution for a total length of close to 1616 km and                23 projects at the starting phase for a total length of 1768 km ; and specifically for the mandatory phase of PLANUT : 7 projects are at the starting phase for a total length of 356 km, and 5 others at the preparation phase (studies underway for the works to be launched ) for a total length of 321 km ;

• highways: those that are underway are : phase 1 of the Yaounde – Douala highway (Yaounde – Bibodi stretch, 68 km) and phase 1 of the Kribi-Edea (Kribi Port to Lolabé-Kribi stretch), for a total length of 43.3 km, that is a total of 111.3 km of highways under construction. Phase 2 of these highways are under preparation to be started in the Public-Private Partnership mode, for a cumulated length of 280 km, excluding the restoration roads ;

• 100 km per year of modern traffic road pavement ; for 2017 and 2018, the following itineraries of a cumulated length of 271.4 km are concerned:

-       Nsimalen Airport bypass (28 km);

-       Eyes Foundation hospital access (19 km);

-       Sondiboma-Massok (16 km);

-       Man O’war-Bimbia-Dikolo;

-       Songbengue-Magambe (12 km);

-       Ndoulou-Magamba(13 km);

-       Babadjou (gendarmerie)-Djibouti-Bamelo-Djinso (Inter N6) (8 km);

-       Bandjoun (Council)-Tsela and slip roads-Bameka (Inter D63)-Massa Gaston junction (10 km);

-       Bafoussam-Bamendjou-Batie (10 km);

-       Sagna junction-Bahouock-Balengou-bafoussam-Bamendjou-Batie (10 km);

-       Sagna junction-Bahouock-Balengou (Inter D62) and Kafeng (Inter N4)-Babou (15 km);

-       Inter N1-Meri (16 km)

-       Makalingai-Tokombere (12 km);

-       Saotchai (Touloum)-Datcheka, Takreo-Yoldeo-Doukoula (20 km);

-       Pana (Inter N1)-Poli (1^st phase, 20 km);

-       Assoban (Inter N10)-Mbakok junction-Mbaka-Tomba (Inter N10) (1^st phase, 11 km);

-       Akonolinga (hospital junction)-Inter N10 (Nkolessong) and Catholic church access (15 km);

-       Okak-Mvoua-Nkoldobo-Koudadeng-Messassi paved road intersection-Nkolmetou 2 (22.5 km);

-       Efoumlassi-Mbankomo-EP Ezezang, Essele-Abono-Nkolbang (10.5 km);

-       Ndikinimeki-Ndom (15 km);

-       Yop (Inter N9)-MenguemeBane-Oveng;

-       Inter N2-Bikok (20.40 km), Djoum-Essong-Yen (10 km);

• The rehabilitation of 1 475 km of national paved roads, with 635 km to be started in 2017. They include:

-       NR1: Maroua-Mora-Dabanga-Kousseri (266.5 km);

-       NR4: Ebebda-Bafoussam (130.8 km);

-       NR6: Babadjou-Bamenda (52 km);

-       Dja ore loop : Ngolbang-Zoetele and Mezesse-Sangmelima (65 km);

-       NR2: Nsimalen-Mbalmayo-Ebolowa (that is 55.6 out of the 138 km);

• The reinforcement maintenance of 925 km in 2017 with the following itineraries:

-       NR1: Ngaoundéré-Garoua (275 km);

-       NR3: Yaounde—Bridge over river DibanbaNdoupe Bridge-Edea (215 km);

-       NR5: Bekoko-Loum-Nkam bridge-Bafang-Banddjoun (217 km);

-       NR9: Mbalmayo-Sangmelima (114 km);

-       PR13: Emana-Monatele (18 km) ;

-       PR15: Bafang-Loum-bangangte (41 km);

-       PR17: Melong-Dschang (45 km);

• The management by level of service of 881 km of paved roads as from 2017. They include:

-       NR1: Garoua-Figuil-Magada (143 km);

-       NR6: Bamenda-Batibo-Bachuo Akagbe-Mamfe-Ekok (120 km);

-       NR1: Yaounde-Obala-Nkolessong (74 km);

-       NR4: Obala-Ebebda (44 km);

-       NR10: Yaounde-Ayos-Abong Mbang-Bonis (329 km);

-       PR8: Yaounde-Olama (67 km);

Thus, 111.3 km of highways and 2 967 km of classified roads are under construction, with 677 km as part of PLANUT, and 300 km of additional council roads. This will, by 2020, raise the length of the paved network to 9 958 km (excluding highways); the percentage of the paved network to will then be 8.14%, whereas the classified paved network will represent the 46.72%; given that it is 20 669 km long.

As you may know, the evaluation of evolution of the paved network is done using international indicators; these are the road density and the distribution of road network.

The distribution of road network represents the relationship between the road length and the total surface area considered. It is expressed in km per km2. The road density on its part shows the relationship between the road length and the population considered. It is expressed in km for 1000 inhabitants.

The following table shows the evolution of these two indicators between 2010 and 2020, the horizon of our ten year planning towards the vision.

ROAD DENSITY, DISTRIBUTION OF THE PAVED NETWORK IN 2016 AND PROJECTION FOR 2020

In effect, the Growth and Employment Strategy Paper had set as target, a paved road density of 0.34 km/1000 inhabitants for 2020; we will reach 0.40 km/1000 inhabitants, a consequence of the voluntarist policy of the Head of State led by the Prime Minister, Head of Government. For the President of the Republic, the faster we go in our projections, the better.

In this connection, budgetary allocations no longer take into consideration only the priority length, but also the orientations imposed by the reality of facts which is the necessary accompaniment of production, the acquisition of infrastructures to improve the living conditions brought about by the construction of a road.

A new classification is envisaged after the inventory of all roads recently conducted by the National Institute of Statistics; it will give rise to a rational allocation of intervention resources; this is because real needs will have been methodically identified.

The contribution of innovating products that will henceforth be introduced in road maintenance will contribute to the improvement of the level of service of our roads, including that of earth roads. Management by level of service will be used through a better definition of tasks in the specifications in order to prolong the sustainability of road infrastructures by anticipation and prevention.

Finally, road mending operations that were formerly reduced to the approximate treatment of vegetation on the right of way will henceforth be well defined; they will certainly include, in addition to supervision, inspection for the treatment of hydraulic structures, the treatment of vegetation and the maintenance of road marks.

All in all, we have embarked on some innovations so that the strategy to upgrade and preserve the quality of our road infrastructures should be efficient, with a viable road network. To the dominant curative maintenance that has been used for many years in an efficient approach to do more with little, we have added preventive and anticipative maintenance; furthermore, the execution of emergency works using direct labour contributes to the will to act quickly and better.

Our partners, contractors and consulting firms understand the innovations.

To give meaning to Government’s determination, I would like to assure you that everything is being done in order to enhance permanent and efficient connectivity. We must press forward undaunted.

May I emphasize, in particular, that the entire length of the Douala-Yaounde-Bafoussam-Bamenda-Enugu Corridor will not only be reconstructed; but, it will also be equipped. The Babadjou-Bamenda stretch (52 km) has been contractualized for 53 billion CFA F for 24 months of works. The proposal of the selected contractor is 37 billion CFA F. The Yaounde-Bafoussam stretch (241 km), in three lots is being contratualized.

On the other hand, the Kumba-Mamfe road (150.7 km) is estimated at 92 billion CFA F, is under construction in                  2 lots : Kumba-Kumbe-Bakundu-Nfaitock and Nfaitock-Bachuo-Akagbe; they come to join the Bamenda-Mamfe-Ekok-Mfum-Abakalili-Enugu Corridor; more so, works have been completed on the Bamenda-Batibo-Numba      (64.5 km) stretch, 42.8 billion CFA F and the Bachuo-Akagbe-Mamfe-Ekok stretch (82 km), 58.5 billion CFA F.

A bridge of 403 ml is being constructed over the Cross-river between Ekok (Cameroon) and Mfum (Nigeria).

We will then have road loop of Douala-Kumba-Mamfe-Ekok and Douala-Yaounde-Bafoussam-Bamenda-Batibo-Numba-Bachuo Akagbe-Mamfe-Ekok.

The road maps in circulation will give you more details on that.

I hereby conclude by once again addressing to each and every one of you, on behalf of the Ministry of Public Works team and on my behalf, our best wishes for the year 2017 which we hope will be full of positive achievements.

I sincerely thank you for your kind attention./-