A delegation of nine Executive Directors and two interpreters of the African Development Bank (ADB) was recently in Cameroon from February 7 th through 11th to hold a series of talks with Cameroon Government Authorities and other Decision - makers directly involved in the management of ADB sponsored projects. Within the framework of this visit, the ADB delegation was received upon arrival at the Douala international airport by CNIC and Littoral Provincial Administrative Authorities. Shortly thereafter the delegation held brief talks with CNIC Management as a prelude to the more formal and elaborate working sessions scheduled for Friday 10th and Saturday 11th respectively.
The delegation was comprised of Messrs BOUGARA OMAR; FONTES Alexandre; PITTORE Francesco; SANI LAWAL Mohamed; SHAKWEER Farouk; T ABIB Ahmed Taher; YONEYAMA Yasuaki; ANDZE OLINGA H.J.C. and had as Spokesperson Mrs. WIIG AUD MARIT. They were accompanied through out their visit to Cameroon by five senior officials representing the Ministerial departments overseeing the implementation of ADB sponsored projects.
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On Friday 10, the delegation was received at the CNIC Head office in Douala before being conducted to Limbe, South-West Province for the working session and a visit of the Limbe Shipyard project site.
The Limbe visit was essentially characterised by an elaborate power point presentation of this project for the construction of infrastructure for oil rigs and ship repairs. The General Manager of CNIC - Mr Z.M FORJINDAM personally conducted the presentation which was also witnessed by South - West Provincial Administrative Authorities, led by the Governor the Project Lead Consultant - INROS LACKNER (AG), Managers of contracting companies involved in ongoing works -Dredging International; Interbeton, Six Construct - as well as Representatives of several media organs and other Stake holders.
The presentation was followed by a visit of the project sites including a stop at the project field office, a visit of the breakwater under construction, a visit at sea to observe dredging operations and a visit of the Batoke quarry which remains the primary source of stones and aggregates for the project. At each of these stops, members of the delegation and other authorities asked questions and sought clarifications to enable them better understand the execution of the project.
Responding to a question from the press at the end of the visit at the Batoke quarry, the General Manager of CNIC had this to say:
“The aim of this visit is to enable the visiting Executive Directors of the African Development Bank which is the leading financial institution in the funding of this project to observe ongoing works on the site and become better acquainted with its execution. For our part, we are satisfied with the rhythm of execution and you shall certainly learn more about the project in the days ahead. But you have just heard from the spokesperson of the ADB delegation, and we have no other comment to make today.” These impressions and those of some members of the ADB delegation marked the end of the working session of Friday 10 February 2006.
The delegation was later treated to a dinner graced with a display of some aspects of Cameroonian culture and folklore. The morning of Saturday 11February was devoted to a debriefing, offering the ADB delegation and other stakeholders an opportunity not only to ask questions and receive explanations but also to make suggestions likely to be used as inputs in the improvement of project implementation. The following is an excerpt of a statement made by spokesperson of the ADB delegation, Mrs. WIIG AUD MARIT, during her impressions on the visit:
“At the end of this visit, I wish to say that if one relies on information from the international media you will know a lot about disease, misery and how people die in Africa but you will know little about how people live in Africa and what they are doing to develop their countries. Even if this visit does not make us to know every thing about how people live in Cameroon, we have seen from this project the positive things that Cameroonians are doing. We have observed that the funds provided by the ADB and other institutions are being used as stipulated and seen the seriousness with which work is being done. We are very proud of the project and will report to our colleagues about what we have seen.”
The delegation left Limbe for the Douala International Airport on Saturday, 11 th February 2006 en route to their next stop over in BURUNDI.
