A quarterly publication of the National Order of Civil EngineersN° 032 of the 4th quarter of 2019

By Kizito NGOA, President of the Order

It is high time for us, as government launches the second phase of the National Develop-ment Strategy under its 2035 Vision, to draw up 17 proposals divided into four action fields for the implementation of such strategy in the infrastructure sector of our country:

Set up an appropriate framework for infrastructure development and financing 1. Use full cost based-method to record infrastructure sector investments;2. Take fully into account the specificities of infrastructure financing in accounting stan- dards.

Ensure the legal certainty and financial security of stakeholders (communities, investors and enterprises) 3. Resort to framework and programme laws for five or ten years (national projects); 4. Include systematically into all contracts a provision ensuring stable rules for the investors throughout the entire life

of the investment; 5. Launch partnership contracts a new / Public Service Delegation / concessions ;6. Adapt investment taxation in the infrastructure sector.

Create a genuine infrastructure market, including a platform at national level wherein supply and demand can be matched. 7. Set up a database for infrastructure projects;8. Systematically mainstream conditions for the intervention of institutional investors and infrastructure fund mana-

gers;9. For infrastructure, systematically consider if they can be financed in association with services that will ensure the

income streams to investors.

Put in place a new network infrastructure governance at the service of an economic development strategy. 10. Under decentralisation, put in place a regional coordination body;11. Create an inter-ministerial entity for steering network infrastructure;12. Group under the same body, all legal remedies associated with infrastructure projects;13. Create, at national level, an Economic Observatory for Network Infrastructure (EONI);14. Entrust the regulation of network infrastructure only to independent regulators;15. Effectively implement a clear and effective separation between infrastructure managers and operators;16. Provide support to the decision taken by public authorities on international comparisons and entrust network de- signs and audits to foreign and independent contractors;17. Standardise the use of cost/benefit analysis or its equivalent.

INFRASTRUCTURES DEVELOPMENT

Editorial ...................................................................CONTENTS

Due to the holding of the twinlegislative and municipal elections,

the annual meeting of Civil Engineers is postponed to

February 20 and 21, 2020 in Yaoundé.

Editorial●

News●

Activities & Representations●

Up coming events●

Appointments●

Distinction●

Obituaries●

New members●

Technical vocabulary●

Focus●

Book

Part of the delegation of Cameroonian Engineers at BATIMAT 2019

Profession?Engineering!

PublisherKizito NGOA

RedactionAndré Bosco CHEUOUAJulienne MANGAAlfred M. FORGWEITCHOUPLAOU

Design & printingDIGIWORKS

News

Profession? Engineering ! - N° 032 of the 4th quarter of 2019

News ......................................................................................................................

● A Major National Dialogue was organised in Yaoundé by Government from September 30 to October 3, 2019. Its main aim was to seek for solutions that will bring back peace into the English-speaking and Far-North Regions and strengthen social cohesion in Cameroon.

● Commissions put in place featured one on the reconstruction and development of the areas affected by the crisis. Its recommendations are as follows:

- Resumption of projects suspended during the last three years including : Babadjou-Bamenda, Loum-Tombel-Kumba and Mundemba-Akwa roads;

- Rehabilitation of facilities and infrastructure destroyed or rendered obsolete as a result of they being unused because of the crisis, especially in the fields of educa-tion, health, transportation, water resources and communication.

- Reconstruction of priority economic infrastructure to sustain and revive production systems and enterprises (CDC, PAMOL, UNDVA, SEMRY, SODECOTON).

● After its 2008 version, FEICOM has renewed its ISO 9001 Certification (2015 version), a standard which sets out requirements concerning a quality management system.This will help enterprises and institutions to be time-efficient and to increase customer satisfaction.

● The African Development Bank has awarded a 12 billion CFA francs loan for the partial funding of the Ring Road (NR 11) development project.

● The Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) and the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD) have granted loans of 8.6 and 7 billion CFA francs res-pectively for the construction of the Olama – Kribi road (the Bingambo – Grand Zambi stretch).

● A special commission has been put in place by the Ministry of Public Works to run partnership contracts for the second phase of the Yaoundé – Douala highway project.

● The RAZEL group has been selected for the project to build a bridge over the Logone river with its connecting routes between Yagoua (Cameroon) and Bongor (Chad). With an amount of 35 billion FCFA, work should last 36 months.

● The construction work of the building to host the Archive Centre of the Supreme Court Audit Bench for an overall cost of 8 393 432 075 CFA francs over a period of 36 months has been awarded to Groupe SOMAF.

● A long-term lease agreement for the construction of two hotels under the HYATT RENGENCY banner in Yaoundé and Kribi was entered into early September 2019 between the Minister of State Property and Land Tenure and Mr Patrick SHEY, the GLENVIEW promoter. The hotel to be built in Yaoundé shall be located at the current site of Central Hôtel. It will be a 31 (!) storey-luxury hotel with 300 rooms, banquet halls including a 1,200-seat hall for an estimated cost of 90 billion CFA francs.

● A termination procedure has been initiated for the contract to build the Eastern gateway to Douala, awarded to WEITC / CRCC14, following several weeks of serious inconveniences that left road users waiting up to five hours at the entry and exit points of the city of Douala. The joint venture supported its case by highlightingthat of the expected upfront payments for the launching of the works worth 5 billion CFA francs, only 700 million CFA francs were paid, nearly eight months after works began.

● The 2015 contract with Italian Group PICCINI for the construction of the Olembe Sports Complex in the outskirts of Yaoundé was terminated on the grounds of “serious corporate deficiencies and breach of regulatory and contractual provisions”. As a reminder, the initial financing of this project by Italian Bank INTESA SANPAOLO stood at 138 billion CFA francs. At project inception, it was provided for that PICCINI should build, not far from project site, a prefab plant, an experience earlier used in Equatorial Guinea.

● Canadian enterprise MAGIL Construction, which has been instructed to resume, as a matter of emergency, the construction works of the Eastern gateway to the city of Douala and of the Olembe Sports Complex in Yaoundé is already at work.

● The contract for the construction of the second stretch of the Ntui-Yoko-Lena road with portuguese company ELEVOLUTION ENGENHARIA SA, has been terminated on the grounds of proven failures.

● Since July 2019, the city of Douala in the Littoral Region has a sustainable urban mobility plan. Estimated at 333 billion CFA francs, this ten-year strategic plan was designed to meet the mobility needs of goods and persons and thus make the town more attractive and competitive.

● Due to heavy rains, the famous “Pont Mizao”, equally known as “Pont Jaune” collapsed last August 23 in Maroua, the Far-North Region, creating in its aftermath severe mobility problems between the two banks of the river.

● A pavement settlement which occurred on October 16, 2019 between Bafang and Bandja in the West Region disrupted the traffic of buses and heavy duty trucks on NR 5 (Douala-Bafoussam).

● Traffic was disrupted for two days on the Sangmélima-Djoum road in the South Region following the washout of the steel culvert over River Woo II.

● The 11th session of the African Geotechnical Days was held in Niamey (NIGER) under the theme “geotechnics and economic efficiency of the sustainable development strategies of inter-tropical African countries”.

● EQUATORIAL GUINEA – Following several weeks without power, the 800,000 inhabitants of the economic capital Bata spent over three weeks last September without potable water supply.

● Expected since September 2016, following decree to reorganise the Advanced National School of Public Works, new officials were appointed by Presidential Decree on October 14, 2019, with Professor George ELAMBO NKENG reappointed as Director.

● While instruments aimed at transforming the Faculté de Génie Industriel (FGI) into a School of Polytechnics are under review, a new Dean, Professor Adolphe MUTENGUE, has just been appointed.

● Jean YANGO is the inaugural Director of SEDO (Société d’Etudes de Douala), the very first firm of engineering consultants set up by the Douala Urban Community and assigned with the main duty of providing support to planning and to land management, support to project and operational designs.

Activities & Representations ............................................● COUNCIL OF THE ORDER - The 52nd session of the Council of the Order, held on June 27, 2019 at NOCE headquarters was chaired by Engineer Kizito NGOA, the President of the Order. Holding five months after the 22nd Ordinary General Assembly meeting (Doua-la, February 2, 2019), the Council addressed the following issues: presentation of activities carried out by the Secretariat General of the Order since February 2019; review of the level of execution of the recommendations made during the ordinary and extraor-dinary General Assembly meetings of February2019; minutes of commissions and of capacity-building seminars for graduates of the Faculté de Génie Industriel (FGI), Douala and the former Institut Supérieur du Sahel, (ISS) Maroua; review of conditions for the functioning of regional representations.

After having taken note of the de facto pursuit of their term of office, pending the end of the revision of the Internal Rules and Regulations and the elections that will follow suit, Council members expressed their full appreciation for the relevance of the various papers and minutes presented, particularly as concerns pursuit of actions to improve the exercise of the profession of civil engineering in Cameroon and to strengthen the visibility of the Order.

● INITIAL TRAINING - After undergoing a refresher course organised by the Ministry of Higher Education (MINESUP), some gra-duates of FGI and ISS officially received their attestations of registration into the Order during a ceremony organised by the Order at DJEUGA Hotel, Yaoundé on June 25, 2019. While this event brings to a halt the long-running dispute between the Order and MINESUP on the training provided by FGI and ISS, there remains, nonetheless, the need to be vigilant on trainings currently provided by these two institutions. There is equally need to ensure that the recommendations made in the evaluation report of the Order are effectively mainstreamed.● Representatives of the Order recently took part in various meetings and events:

- Participatory consultations for the planning of the second phase of the 2035 Vision (MINEPAT)- Monitoring the development of a self-construction guide (MINHDU)- Validation of the study of housing estates, architectural and technical studies of the Banengo / Bafoussam Real Estate Ope-

ration (SIC)- International Jury of the 3rd edition of the FEICOM National Prize to the best council and local development practices - World Habitat Day under the theme “Frontier Technologies as an innovative tool to transform waste to wealth”- Steering Committee of the Support Council for the Execution of Public/Private Partnerships (CARPA) - Consultation with Mr Jean Yves LE DRIAN, French Minister in charge of Europe and External Relations (GICAM)- Board meeting of the National Advanced School of Public Works (NASPW)- Restitution of the study in view of restructuring/renovating the sub-structured neighbourhoods of Bamenda, Kribi and Nkol-

bikok-Yaoundé (MINHDU)- Validation workshop of the urban by-laws of Dibombari council land-use plan (Littoral)- 10th session of the taskforce in charge of the development of the FEICOM headquarter building- Review of the study for the development of the urban corridor along the Yaoundé-Nsimalen highway- Workshop on the mainstreaming of climate issues and risks in urban planning (PDVIR)- Workshop on the strategic objectives and the five-year action plan of the development scheme and sustainable regional

development (MINEPAT)The proceedings, working documents and reports relating to these meetings are available for consultation at the headquarters of the Order. Comments are expected to beef up the stance of the Order at these various meetings.

Up-coming events ...........................................................................................

■ ENER MEETING PARIS 2020 – Day on the energy and environmental efficiency of the building–6 February 2020, Paris (FRANCE)

■ NOCE - Annual meeting of Civil Engineers– 21-22 February 2020, Yaoundé (CAMEROON)

Appointments ....................................................................................................

● Ahmadou SARDAOUNA (Enrolment number 06-0907), appointed General Manager of the Cameroon Real Estate Company (SIC).● Christine Virginie R. METANGMO ép. LEKEUFACK (Enrolment number 02-0127), appointed chairperson of the Board of Directors

of the National Advanced School of Public Works (NASPW). ● Charles BWEMBA (Enrolment number 02-0111), member of the Council of the Order, appointed Deputy-Director of the NASPW.● Gustave-Auguste NJEMBELE KOUM (Enrolment number 02-0256), appointed chairperson of the Central Commission for the

Supervision of Road Contracts at MINMAP● Christophe PALDOU (Enrolment number 02-0430), appointed chairperson of the Central Commission for the Supervision of

other Infrastructure Contracts at MINMAP● Jean Marie Aimé OTTOU (Enrolment number 03-0600), appointed chairperson of the Central Commission for the Supervision of

Building and Community Facilities Contracts at MINMAP

Distinction ...........................................................................................................

● Charles AZOLA AZOLA (Enrolment number 02-0163), Treasurer of the Order, elevated to the rank of Officer of the National Order of Valour

Obituaries ............................................................................................................

● Jean-Marie Félix ESSO (Enrolment number 02-0037), 74, manager of Bureau d’Etudes Techniques JME, passed away on June 30, 2019 inYaoundé, after a brief illness.

● Roger TANGHAZUNGA KOMANDU (Enrolment number 14-1572), 45, passed away on July 3, 2019 in Yaoundé.● Marie Jeanne MINYOGOCK veuve NKOLO ESSIMI (Enrolment number 12-1280), 38, executive officer in charge of Infrastructure at

the Bamenda NPDP Branch, passed away on August 6, 2019 in Yaoundé.● François Alphonse ATANGANA (Enrolment number 03-0658), 57, retired from the Public Service, Founder of the Scholar Group

The Angels, passed away on November 14, 2019 in Yaoundé, after illness.

Actions

Profession? Engineering ! - N° 032 of the 4th quarter of 2019

New members ....................Recently enrolled to the Order(Membership & Name)

19- 2461 TSIMI AYISSI Dieudonné Bertin19- 2462 ALAKE ALOKESE Joseph Junior19- 2463 EKOMAN EKOMAN VIII Alain Stéphane19- 2464 BOUBA ABBA MADI19- 2465 MENDOUGA BALLA Patience Emile19- 2466 NDOMOU TIEPME Fabrice19- 2467 KOAGNE NOUKATE Bertrand Herbert19- 2468 MAMEZAM Armstrong Fru19- 2469 KAMENI KAMENI Boris19- 2470 MATCHAN A NWAWEL Brice19- 2471 SIKAPING Joseph19- 2472 OUMAR OUSMANE Khassim19- 2473 NOAH NGUEDE Hugues Joseph19- 2474 ANDELA Octavie19- 2475 FOGOU TCHIO Lionel19- 2476 DZATI KAMGUE Franck Loïc19- 2477 ESSOBMADJE Stéphane Jean Arnaud19- 2478 ADAMOU BELLE19- 2479 NDONGO Paulin Patrick19- 2480 KAMGANG FOTCHEPING Stève19- 2481 LEYE Serigne Bassirou19- 2482 NGANTCHOU NOUJA Sylvain19- 2483 TEDOUTCHOP KENFACK Pierre Rodrigue19- 2484 PETTANG NANA Ursula Merveilles19- 2485 IBRAHIMA SAÏDOU19- 2486 LONLA Raymond19- 2487 PENKA Jules Bertrand19- 2488 ESSOUNGA TSANGA Benjamin19- 2489 MABEKAM SOKOUDJOU Danielle19- 2490 MBATZIN NJIKI Boris Schalom19- 2491 SALLE NDONG Ernestine Olga19- 2492 NJUME Pius SALE19- 2493 André VAÏWA19- 2494 KANKO ZANGUE Gildas19- 2495 BANKOUE HOUYA Yannick19- 2496 MAGNE KAMGA Désirée19- 2497 KAMGA-NGOUNOU David-Albert19- 2498 KAMGANG DADA NOUBISSI19- 2499 ENANE NGUIDJOI Gervais Aubin19- 2500 NGEFATH Esthere BAJIA19- 2501 ASSE ETABA Serge19- 2502 MOHAMADOU MAINA Abali19- 2503 KAMNANG TSIEMI Angèle Ornella19- 2504 KENNE LONTSI Paulette19- 2505 FANYIM KEBEUTAT Adrien19- 2506 DONMEZA MOMO Benito Roldan19- 2507 FOPAH FOKA Anicet19- 2508 DONGMO METSIGUIA Beauclair19- 2509 PISSOM Michel19- 2510 Blaise Pascal NKONGNE19- 2511 Steve Aurélien NYAMSI SANGON19- 2512 BOYOMO ADEGONO Arsène19- 2513 DASSI TCHA Eric19- 2514 SAM NGANGUE André19- 2515 NNA ELELEP Louis Second Marcel19- 2516 DJENABOU MOHAMADOU19- 2517 PARE Jean Rodrigue19- 2518 NDJEYEHA BANGWEN Claude

ContactsNational Order of Civil EngineersMontée Elig Essono - P.O. Box 20822 YaoundeTel / Fax : +237 222 21 42 58Cell : +237 677 66 10 66 / 655 01 02 03E-mail : onigc.infos@ymail.comWebsite : www.noce.cm

Resources

Profession? Engineering ! - N° 032 of the 4th quarter of 2019

African Infrastructure Forum

Yaoundé, the Capital of Cameroon has been chosen to host the 12th edition of the African Forum on In-frastructures (FAI 2019). The theme chosen this year was: "Transport infrastructure, a catalyst for regional emergence".With more than 400 participants from 5 continents, FAI 2019 was a great moment of reflection and ex-change of good practices and experiences around the issue of transport development, the primary lever of economic growth and the development of African states. Morocco was the country of honor.From all of the discussions from the plenary conferences and innovation sessions, it emerged:● that transport infrastructure constitutes a determinant of inclusive growth and a lever for the emergence

of a country, thus reflecting the maxim that "the road to development goes through the development of the road";

● that the African Infrastructure Forum aims since its launch in 2008, to strengthen South-South coopera-tion for the harmonious development of infrastructure in Africa;

● that despite the efforts made in recent years by African countries to address the large deficit in transport infrastructure, there is still a long way to go;

● that the experiences of countries like Morocco in the development of transport infrastructure could ins-pire other African countries like Cameroon;

● that optimizing the planning, programming and financing of road infrastructure needs, coupled with the emergence of SMEs, constitute major challenges for the development of quality infrastructure at low cost;

● that infrastructure issues should benefit from greater political will and be brought to a very high level in order to direct massive funding to this sector in an exceptional manner;

● that the development of financial engineering and the strengthening of the negotiation skills of national experts are necessary for a better structuring of the infrastructures which require optimal preparation before their implementation;

● that, however, infrastructure is not an end in itself ... it should be accompanied by related projects, par-ticularly in the agricultural sector.

FOCUS

Dixit .............................“We must speed up the construction of transport in-frastructure. I am here in Cameroon and no one seems to realise that there is no road link between this country and Congo”.Denis SASSOU NGUESSO,President of the Republic of CONGO

Book ...................................to be consulted at the Document

Resource Centre of the Order

Wood Works Sustainability, Versatility, Stability

(Chris van Uffelen, BRAUN, 218 pages, 2019)

Wood is nature’s most remarkable resource, embedded in the history, culture and life of humans worldwide. For the architecture world it is ingenious: malleable and at the same time resilient, fully recyclable and environmentally friendly as it reduces greenhouse gases, uni-versally applicable and locally available.

Today, new processing technologies extend the spectrum of its possible applications and the combinability with other building mate-rials, enabling innovative technical and design solutions. In short, anything is possible when it comes to timber, whatever designers conceive can be realized. The traditional building ma-terial has become ultra-contemporary and increasingly cutting-edge, offering exciting possibilities for architectural design.

1. entranceway (vestibule)

2. tambour (tambour)

3. porch (porche)

4. anteroom (antichambre)

5. corridor (couloir)

6. passage (dégagement)

7. enfilade (enfilade)

8. utility room (pièce de service)

Technical vocabularyRooms and horizontal and vertical passages

Locaux et circulations horizontales et verticales