Actualités of Saturday, 13 September 2014

Source: Cameroon Tribune

Inhabitants of a 'ghost town' resist evacuation

A release from the delegate of the government issued on Tuesday gave some encroachers 72 hours to vacate premises. The city looked uninhabited with wild grass interspersed with large expanses of greenish water.

Garbage of all kinds are scattered all over. A few old vehicles are parked there making site look abandoned. Some doors and windows have even been pulled down, pieces of wall demolished. Yet, in the customs district in Bonapriso, almost no one has moved.

A few rare inhabitants outside will also confirm this. "Looking at the scenery with some window fastened and closed, one may think that there are no people living here, but they are there and going about their occupations quietly while others come and go. They are ready for any eventuality”.

The occupants of this site of 90 homes have been threatened to be evacuated for some time. The press release by the government delegate in the urban community of Douala, released Tuesday, September 9, reminded them that the deadline of 15 August, a date fixed by common agreement for their liberation of places, is largely outdated.

The press release stated that any occupant of the site has 72 hours to release the site. A customs encountered on the scene and having required anonymity, as the rest of our interlocutors, indicated that the inhabitants of the City no longer know where to go to.

Some continue to confirm, but without much conviction, they will not leave. "I have received nothing as compensation, yet we have paid money to some tenants" indicated one of them.