Douala and N'djamena transport services to resume

A dispute that had disrupted transport services between Cameroon and Chad has been resolved, officials said.

Consequently, the movement of goods between the port of Douala and Chad’s capital city N'djamena was expected to resume soon.

The disruption occurred following clashes between Chadian drivers and Cameroonian security officials on February 14.

The decision to reopen the Douala-Ndjamena corridor was arrived at after a meeting between the transporters and the Chadian ambassador to Cameroon, Mr Yousen Koutou Noudjiamlao, on the one hand, and Cameroon’s minister of Transport Robert Nkili and other government officials, on the other hand.

Among the decisions arrived at was that the number of security check points between Douala and Ndjamena be reduced to three, and that a special task force; Red Brigades, be set up within the next few days to ensure that the decision on check points was respected.

It should be recalled that Chadian transporters, who carried goods from the Douala, have over the years been complaining about the extortionist behaviour of Cameroonian security officers, who rendered their operations costly.

Chadian transporters complained that each trip to and from Douala to Ndjamena cost them about $1,000 in bribes to Cameroonian officials, even when they had all the necessary transportation and identification documents.

This bribe cost was in turn passed over to consumers of the goods imported into Chad.

The issue has been the subject of several meetings between officials of the two countries and at meetings of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), leading to the institution of several regulations.

However, all the regulations have over the years always been swept under the mat by money-hungry Cameroonian officials.