Government’s Action: PM Yang Recalls Underpinning Priorities

Following is the final press release from the cabinet meeting of March 29, 2018.

“The Prime Minister, Head of Government, His Excellency Philemon YANG, this Thursday, 29 March 2018, chaired this month' s Cabinet Meeting at 9 a.m. at the Prime Minister's Office. The meeting was attended by the Vice-Prime Minister, Ministers of State, Ministers, Ministers Delegate and Secretaries of State.

Two items featured on the agenda: 1-A statement by the Minister of Public Works on "the implementation of road and motorway infrastructural projects"; 2- A statement by the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications on "guidelines of the strategy to fight against cybercrime and delinquency".

As a prelude to these statements, the Prime Minister made a statement on the main challenges faced by Government following the cabinet reorganization of 2 March 2018. He recalled the priorities which must underpin Government's action, as reiterated by the President of the Republic during the Council of Ministers on 15 March 2018.

These priorities include strengthening economic performance, improving the living standards of the population and fighting against unemployment. The Prime Minister also laid emphasis on cutting Government spending and instructed that priority should be given to expenditure which has a real and measurable impact on the implementation of public policies. He further prescribed that consumption expenditure should be managed optimally in order to make budgetary savings.

He instructed members of Government to categorize missions abroad at all administrative levels in strict compliance with the provisions of the Decree of 13 March 2018 which amends and supplements the Decree of 13 September 2000 to lay down travel regulations for State employees.

The Head of Government ended his statement by prescribing the implementation of measures to reinforce the practice of bilingualism in the public administration, as prescribed recently by the National Commission for the Promotion of Bilingualism and Multiculturalism.

These measures include (i) the use of both official languages on signs and other communication and information tools intended for users; (ii) the use of both English and French during meetings; (iii) the dissemination of education and awareness-raising programmes on the practice of bilingualism on State media.

The Meeting then listened to the statement of the Minister of Public Works on the implementation of road and motorway infrastructural projects, which revealed that the network of asphalted roads is expanding significantly. It has increased from 5,24.0 to 6,760 km of asphalted roads between 2010 and 2016, with a target of 9,558 km by 2020, in accordance with the goals of the Growth and Employment Strategy Paper.

The Minister of Public Works pointed out that the key roads under construction cover a total of 2,883 km of national, regional and communal roads, for an estimated overal1 cost of CF AF 1,650 billion. The road network will expand significantly thanks to the construction of roads under the three-year emergency plan to speed up economic growth.

The first 7 stretches covering a distance of 356 km are already under construction. The main difficulties faced in the implementation of road projects include the late release of rights of way, the unsatisfactory performance of selected companies, and payment delays. Regarding the implementation of the motorway programme, Government has started the construction of the Yaounde- Douala and Kribi-Edea motorways, under the auspices of the Minister of Public Works.

As for the Yaounde-Douala motorway, it is being implemented in two phases with the first phase covering the Yaounde-Bibodi itinerary of 60 km with connecting roads, while the second phase concerns the Bibodi-Douala stretch of 140 km.

The Minister of Public Works revealed that the implementation rate of the Yaounde-Bibodi stretch stands at about 60 %. With regard to the construction of the Kribi- Edea motorway, rehabilitation works on the Kribi-Lolabe stretch have been 79% completed and its tentative reception date is June 2018.

Technical studies are underway with a view to .construct the Bibodi-Douala and Kribi-Edea stretches, the Douala-Limb...