Actualités of Friday, 8 June 2012

Source: Cameroon Tribune

Inhabitants at Environnemental Risks

For a while now, some people of different tribes and languages in Cameroon have migrated to make their homes in Bois des singes at Bonapriso, Douala. This area, when the name comes to mind, people thing of grave yard, an area to deposit all waste material, added to these it is a swampy area. Day by day the population keeps swelling up irrespective of the risks they may face and worst of all they do not take this at heart but care about their present conditions.

In Bois the singes the government has built a treatment centre to treat faeces from septic tanks and pit toilets. There is a truck which sucks out this waste from septic tanks that are full and pit toilets that are full and carried to the treatment centre at bois des singes. The Inhabitants complained of the odour that comes from the treatment centre to be unbearable. They complained that sometimes the truck does not deposit the waste in the centre but it pours out on the road making passage difficult and odour spreads everywhere.

Since bois des singe is below sea level, the movement of water causes water to over flow in the area. Though most of them have built their houses in such a way that they cannot be flooded, the water that comes from the river comes with dirt and flows in front of the houses. There is a constant greenish stagnant water to breathe mosquitoes which causes malaria and this water is just at the door posts of houses. The inhabitants have exhausted the mangroves which were inexistent as wood so it's hard to get wood now.

Above all there is no good source of drinking water because the carry water from wells which are not well treated and protected. They can easily contract water borne diseases. The inhabitants are at risk in case of an aircraft accident because it is closed to the airport. Even the noises from the airport are a nuisance.