Olembe low-cost housing project:

Jean Claude Mbwenchou

Chinese operators get a better deal than Cameroonians
Amongst other things, the honorary president of Cameroon’s entrepreneurs told the press in Yaounde last week that although Cameroonians are awarded contracts at a relatively lower cost, they are patriotic enough to do a better job than Chinese contractors
By Tanyi Kenneth Musa in Yaounde
The honorary president of Cameroon’s entrepreneurs has expressed dissatisfaction at the quality of houses that Chinese entrepreneurs who were awarded contracts to build low-cost houses in the Yaounde Olembe neighbourhood are constructing. He equally frowned at the fact that in the award of the contracts Chinese entrepreneurs are favoured more than their Cameroonian counterparts.
    Talking to the press on the sidelines of an inspection and evaluation visit made by the Housing and Urban Development Minister, Jean Claude Mbwenchou, to the Olembe low-cost housing village last week, El Hadj Saidou Ndernai Njilda, who doubles as president of the building/construction section of the Cameroon Chamber of Commerce, said when coming from afar you see beautiful buildings, but as you come closer you see lots of defects.

    “…I feel too bad…(when) I see the prices that are given to these Chinese and that which is given to Cameroonians who carry out good-quality projects at a ridiculously low price,” El Hadj Saidou worried. “Looking at the quality of houses built by the Chinese, we cannot say that we are in a country that will emerge by 2035. I shudder to think that in 2035 my child will live in any of such houses. We like foreigners, but we want to tell our authorities that Cameroon will emerge only when its (Cameroonian) economic operators emerge too.”
    Asked what the difference is between the contracts awarded to Chinese and those awarded to Cameroonians, the no-nonsense honorary president of Cameroon’s entrepreneurs said the difference is at the level of the price. While Cameroonians obtain a square metre for less than 200 000 FCFA, Chinese get it for more than 300 000 FCFA, he noted.
    “You can see the gap that exists between these people and us. Straight off, it leads Cameroonians to employ workers who don’t have good sense. But on another count, since we love this country, we are patriotic entrepreneurs. We have built high-quality houses…”
El Hadj Saidou Njilda added that they were asked to come up with social housing for Cameroonians, but they cannot do that because economic operators are out for profit and not to help the community. “It is the job of the state, and may be, NGOs, to do social work,” he specified.
    “Unfortunately, in the case of Cameroonians, since we don’t have banks to accompany us, they imposed a low price on us and Cameroonians have worked well. You just have to see the difference in the anglings, patterns and other aspects of the buildings,” the honorary president concluded.