Flooding In Yaounde: Mass Mobilisation Campaign Launched

The two-month exercise, which began on September 28, 2016, is meant to reach out to 1.8 million city residents.

Concerned by the recurrent dumping of household waste into waterways and drainages that create blockages and facilitate flooding, the Yaounde City Council has launched a mass mobilisation campaign to curb the trend. The exercise, which began on September 28, 2016, and is due to last two months, is part of activities of Phase Two of the Yaounde Sanitation Project, PADY 2. The project, which began in 2014, ends in 2018.

Speaking to Cameroon Tribune on September 28, 2016, Gérard Essi Ntoumba, Coordinator of PADY 2, explained that similar Information, Education and Communication, IEC, campaigns will be carried out from 2016 to 2018. Flood prevention, waste management, hygiene and health as well as mitigating the impact of climate change, are the six IEC themes for sensitisation in the next two years. Meanwhile, billboard messages have already been posted in the city concerning the current flood prevention campaign, while teams are carrying out door-to-door sensitisation. This phase is carried out by 35 animators and seven supervisors in the seven subdivisions in Mfoundi Division, Gérard Essi Ntoumba explained.

Each subdivision has five animators and a supervisor, who will reach out to 70,000 homes in two months. Similarly, 100,000 SMS messages will be sent to Yaounde residents for each of the six IEC campaigns, giving a total of 600,000 awareness text messages. Meanwhile, mobile phone companies have already identified adult Yaounde residents to receive the SMS messages. There will also be messages on CRTV television before the evening newscast, on another TV channel and radio stations. The goal is to rea...