As part of activities geared towards the fight against urban disorder, the Government Delegate to the Douala City Council, Fritz Ntonè Ntonè, led a mixed delegation into majors streets and neighbourhoods of the economic capital, last Thursday March 7, for a one-day sensitization session with locally-based recyclers. This is the first phase of a project known as "Innovative Service In Difficult Environment For Recyler Artisan," abbreviated ISDERA, to be financed by the Directorate General of EUROPAID under the European Commission's "non-state actors and local communities in development" programme. The Douala City Council has equally signed several conventions with other partners among which the University of Ca Foscari of Venice (Italy), the Maroua 1 Council (Cameroon), the town of Koudougou in Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) and a French Association known as A.P.R.E.I.S.(France).

The about five-hour tour took the officials to places like "Mobile Njo-Njo", Makéa, Camp Yabassi, Bassa and Bepanda neighbourhoods. About 15 local operators were encountered who operate in the transformation of iron, aluminium, rubber, zinc and nylon articles into new objects. They included objects like pots, wire mesh, grate, vehicle parts, and cooking stoves, amongst others. The high mark of the descent was a visit to the Douala City Council Dumping ground at PK10. Here, a group of persons are actively involved in the selection and classification of refuse, which are later sold to enterprises specialised in recycling.

In a press briefing at the end of the tour, the Government Delegate announced that over 150 artisans have been identified in Douala. Operating in diverse domains, ISDERA aims at evaluating the economic impact of this activity, build capacity through training in line with the respect of socio-environmental aspects during production, the eventual putting in place of a micro-project to move the actors from the informal to the formal sector. Which act in a long run, will promote sustainable development in two of Cameroon's urban zones being Maroua and Douala; alongside the town of Koudougou in Burkina Faso.