Cameroon: More statuary powers to be given to Mayors for the construction of road networks

According to the Ministry of Public Works, the elected Mayor of the localities shall be responsible for planning, programming and execution of the road construction projects. This is done to minimize the risk of having failed projects as well as reducing the cost of follow up. The communal road project for the year 2018 have been stopped. 

The Mayors shall be the project supervisors as indicated by the minister of Public works, Emmanuel Nganou Djoumessi, the Mayors shall subsequently be responsible for the conception, programming, supervision and execution of the said projects.

Those projects to be executed shall be done with the technical assistance of Council engineers, who are charged with their construction and maintenance of such roads.

In other words it's the Mayors who shall give instructions as per priority of the project. They therefore shall need a project roadmap for their respective Council areas and shall take responsibility for all the decisions that they shall take.

Engineers from the ministry of Public Works shall give succour to the Mayors wherever there shall be technical challenges on the technical domain. These engineers shall be at the service of Mayors so as to help them in the designing of the structural plan if the project. Whenever a Mayor desires or wishes to maintain a trench of road, the chief of service for Technical maintenance or the Divisional Delegate for Public Works shall intervene to arrest the degradation as well as say what should be done.

These workers are at the disposal of the Mayor. Contract supervisor is charged with having a project book as requested by the Minister of Public Works. The transfer of competence to councils that was announced since 2012. The competence of Mayors is limited to secondary and feeder roads. The construction and maintenance of mayor roads is the responsibility of the Minister of Public Works.

In the quarters,the issue of road maintenance is in the hands of the Mayor. These are the fruits of the request of the population. Once more the needs of expressed by the people,the Mayor should solicit the assistance of the Divisional Delegate for Public Works, who shall carry out the studies on the field. After these field studies, he shall transmit to the hierarchy.

At the end of the procedure, the minister of Public works might release funds for each Council worth twenty seven million.