Plan To Rebuild & Develop NW & SW Regions:

About 90bn Needed To Repair CDC & Pamol  
- Workers and management of the two agro-industries in the SW have greeted government’s announcement of a plan for reconstruction  and development of NW and SW regions, following over three years of a ravaging armed conflict.
By Ayukogem Steven Ojong in Yaounde

 CDC GM, Franklin Ngoni Njie 

The General Managers of the Cameroon Development Corporation, CDC and Pamol Plantations PLc have jumped for joy following the announcement by government of a plan to reconstruct and develop the NW and SW regions that have suffered untold destruction due to the continuing armed conflict in the two regions.
   
    The rehabilitation of CDC and Pamol is a recommendation of the Grand National Dialogue, GND that was convened by President Paul Biya in October-November 2019, to seek lasting solutions to the Anglophone question.
    Managers of the agro-industries told CRTV that they had since gone to work soon after the Grand Dialogue, and they have done an evaluation of the damage and destruction suffered by their respective plantation estates and factories.
    “All our plantations have suffered huge losses due to the conflict. It would require something like 8.8 billion fcfa to rehabilitate the plantations so that they can start producing again,” said Chief Charles Mekanya Okon, GM of Pamol.
    As for the much bigger company, the CDC, that counts a workforce of over 22.000 persons, its GM, Franklin Ngoni Njie, says the losses incurred due damage of the company’s infrastructures and equipment, especially the palm oil mill at Iloani, can be valued at over 6 billion fcfa. Njie said further that if the losses due to destruction of the plantations are factored the cost of rehabilitation can be estimated at about Fcfa 68 billion.
    Both GMs used the opportunity of the chat with CRTV’s reporters to acknowledge the support they have so far received from the government. They said thanks to the financial assistance from government, they were able to continue operations in some areas, even though at a very minimal level.
    “Thanks to support from the government and protection from the military and some vigilante groups, we were able to keep some of our production units functioning. So far we have been able to produce over 1000 tons of palm oil at our oil mill in Ndian. But the challenge we now face is how to evacuate the oil from Ndian to the Douala port for shipment,” regretted the Pamol GM.
    For his part, the GM of CDC, also acknowledged receiving some bailout support from the government.

Obili, Yaounde:

Collapsed Building Kills Couple, Pregnant Woman, Three Others
At least three lifeless bodies were among the several victims that were retrieved from the rubble of a building that collapsed at the Monte Chappelle Obili neighbourhood in Yaounde, at about 8 am on Thursday 9 April, reports said.
By Mercy Neba in Yaounde

Rescue units and residents trying to retrieve trapped persons from the rubbble of collapsed building at Chapelle Obili in Yaounde

Voluntary rescue teams rushed to the scene of the accident, soon after the four storey building gave way and crashed to the ground, eye witness reports said.
    The brave rescue men, mostly commercial motorbike riders, managed to pull out a number of victims, some of whom had already given up the ghost.
    A pregnant woman was among the lifeless bodies retrieved from under the rubble, it was reported
    At least four persons died in the accident, among them a teenager who died later in hospital. Many survivors were severely injured.
    Local administrative authorities, who visited the scene later, told reporters that the building was constructed in total disrespect of construction norms.

Y’de Central Hospital:

Covid-19 Positive Woman Delivers Bouncing Baby
By Mercy Neba in Yaounde
The Minister of Public Health, Dr. Manaounda Malachie has congratulated medics for strides made in the fight to contain the coronavirus spread in the country. The minister saluted the successes recorded by healthcare givers as he disclosed the successful recovery of 61 previously infected cases.
He was speaking 6 April during the daily press conferences organised to brief the population on the evolution of the health crisis in the country.
  
    He disclosed that one of the highest success recorded by medics in Cameroon is the recovery of 43 cases on a single day.

Covid-19 Woman Delivers Baby
    The health minister also took to twitter to hail medics for successfully delivering a covid-19 positive lady of her baby.
    “We welcomed this 11:12pm, the first baby born to a covid-19 positive mother at the Central hospital of Yaounde,” Manounda tweeted, while congratulating Dr. Yaneu, the medic who was on duty and his team for the achievement.
    According to Prof Anne Esther Njom Nlend, neonatologist and Associate Professor of Paediatrics, separation from the mother is not necessary and breastfeeding is very possible, provided the mother puts on a face mask.
    She has equally recommended the baby be placed in an incubator in a dedicated area for a fourteen-day quarantine period or less, and if possible confined at home, according to its condition.

Coronavirus:

B’da city mayor, Paul Achombong talks with the press

B’da City Mayor Suspends Market Rents, Tolls
By Doh Bertrand Nua in Yaounde
Traders in Markets in Bamenda have been exonerated from paying market tolls and other incidental taxes for a period of two months. This is in a bid to accompany them to adhere to the measures prescribed by the government to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in the country.
    The decision was announced recently by the City Mayor of Bamenda, Paul Achobong Tambeng, as he went out sensitizing the population on the incidence of the virus, and measures prescribed by government to check its spread in the country.
  
    Business persons operating at the Bamenda main market, the Nkwen Market, Ntarikon Market and the Food Market are those to benefit the mayor’s largesse. 
    The Mayor said traders who have already paid their rents for the period concerned will equally be looked into so that everybody benefits equally.
    “The petty traders who come to sell one thing or the other and pay 100 frs will equally be exempted from paying that amount for a period of two months,” Achobong instructed.
    He enjoined traders and business persons to observe proper hygiene around their vicinities in order to remain safe from the deadly virus. He prescribed respect for basic hygiene rules to all traders and their customers as recommended by the World Health Orgnisation and the government so as to prevent the markets from becoming breeding grounds for the virus. 
    In yet another outing, Achobong outlined additional measures to be observed by Bamenda inhabitants in public places as a means to bar the virus infesting the region. 
    The Mayor, who puts the wellbeing of his population at the top of his agenda, has made hand washing around all markets and public places compulsory.
    The Covid-19 measures only add to the city council’s operation clean city campaign which has witnessed the clearing of garbage from all major quarters in Bamenda. 

Fighting Covid-19 in Y’de:

CCMN Donates Hygiene Kits to Traders, Bikers
By Doh Bertrand Nua in Yde

CCMN donates hygiene kits to traders, bikers

Members of Cameroon Commercial Media Network (CCMN) have donated some basic hygiene kits to traders and bike riders at Chapelle Obili, Yaounde.
    The donation falls in line with the battle against the spread of the deadly coronavirus pandemic.
    The gesture was extended to traders and inhabitants of Chapelle, on Friday 10 April 2020.
    The gifts comprised wash hand buckets, soap and masks.
    Speaking while handing over the gifts, CCMN centre regional coordinator, Muma Sandrine urged the market women and bike riders of the vicinity to scrupulously respect all the hygiene measures prescribed by government and the WHO to bar the way to the spread of the dreaded pandemic.

Nutritional Advice During the Coronavirus Pandemic*

By Julius E. Oben**

Julius E. Oben

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the first case in Cameroon of which was reported by the Ministry of Health on 6 March 2020.  To date, more than 800 cases have been reported in Cameroon despite the measures that were put in place by the government.  Key amongst these measures were recommendations on hygiene (handwashing and/or hand sanitizing) and social distancing aimed at limiting transmission.
    Other theories have been put forward as to how best to manage COVID-19, ranging from the use of pharmaceutical products like chloroquine to food supplements.  For any of these to merit any serious consideration, it is important to know how the body actually reacts to viral infections.  The human body generally has the appropriate mechanisms to defend itself against bacterial or viral (pathogen) attacks.  The first line of defense is generally through the physical barrier provided by the skin and associated structures like dermal and nasal.  If the pathogen however goes through this first line of defense into the body’s circulation, the second line of defense – the immune system immediately kicks into play, producing a variety of substances to get rid of the foreign substance which is also known as antigen. One of these substances called antibodies recognizes features of the antigen and attacks it continuously to get rid of it.  The immune system’s ‘memory’ can now have the ability to produce antibodies in future if it sees the same pathogen again like in the cases for viruses that cause chickenpox or polio, destroying it before the symptoms become serious.  For some other viruses like coronaviruses that cause the common cold, their recognition by the immune system seems to be lost after a short while, making people vulnerable to suffering frequently from colds.  Since SARS-CoV-2 has only been recently discovered and presently causing havoc worldwide, it is not yet known how the immune system or the immune system’s memory is going to handle it.  It is therefore important for the body to have an efficient immune system.

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