Drinking water for all

In Cameroon, the drinking water sector is lagging behind many other countries with similar incomes, with irregular progress and funding over the past 15 years. Access to drinking water remains a problem for people on a daily basis, especially in rural areas.

  • We will provide access to safe drinking water for all within 10 years in urban areas and within 15 years in rural areas
  • In urban areas, we will systematically implement the drinking water supply network during the construction of a sewer system;
  • We will require the effective installation of a parcel network of drinking water supply as a requirement for the granting of a building permit for new developments;
  • We will create zones in which semi-public fountains will be installed in so-called spontaneous settlements where it is difficult to install water pipes in all households;
  • In rural areas, we will ensure that each household is within 1 km of a semi-public fountain when habitat is not widely dispersed.
  • In areas with highly dispersed habitat, individual solutions will be considered depending on the hydrometry of the area

Establish a cadastre of access to water

  • We will produce a land register of the production and of access to water throughout the territory. This land register will allow us not only to clearly identify our needs but also and above all to direct our policies in priority to the areas where the situation is most critical.
  • We will regularly update this computerised and centralised land register at the Ministry of Energy and Water (MINEE). To this end, all actors in the chain of production and access to water throughout the territory will be solicited.

Water production in major cities

  • The water supply of major cities such as Yaoundé, Douala and the regional capitals will remain under the control of the Camwater whose missions will be refocused mainly on the production and transport of water.
  • The procurement procedures of Camwater will be reviewed and improved to allow a better rate of execution of the obtained financing.

Water production in secondary cities and rural areas

  • We will provide each region with a regional agency responsible for producing drinking water. This agency will also fulfil the following missions:

-adjust the regional policy on production, transport and water management in relation to the policy
defined at the MINEE level;
– reconcile water management with economic development and respect for the environment;
– transport this water to the distribution points in the cities from which municipalities will take over.

  • The regional agency will also have the flexibility to open the production sector to private companies like the CoE.
  • We will promote in rural areas a partnership between municipalities and private partners for the production, transport and management of drinking water to the occupied areas.

Sanitation and drainage

  • We will create two specialised and fully responsible directorates within MINEE, one dedicated to the wastewater treatment policy and the other responsible for rainwater drainage.
  • The construction of the sanitation network and drainage will be ensured by the State and the regions. Municipalities will be responsible for monitoring the connection of all households and businesses to a sewage network.
  • The construction and operation of wastewater treatment plants in major cities will be the subject of a
    public-private partnership.

A sanitation strategy according to the level of structuring of space, land use and relief

  • For the protection of our environment, the improvement of hygiene and cleanliness in our major cities, we will realise a sewer system for the wastewater collection. This drainage network will be entirely built with local materials and products. This vast sanitation site of the living space will contribute to:

-Create many jobs both in the production of materials and in the realisation of these works;
– Avoid the pollution of groundwater supplying wells in which the populations deprived of sources of
drinking water obtain their supply.

  • We will adopt a sanitation strategy according to the level of structuring of space, land use and relief. For this purpose, we will distinguish:

A. « Structured areas » characterised by a large road network and low density of housing: this is the
case for residential neighbourhoods and subdivisions;
B. The « sub-structured zones » that are the result of unlawful and disorderly occupation, are char
acterised by a low density of the road network and a difficult accessibility of parcels by vehicles;
C. « Peri-urban areas » which are located on the outskirts of cities, and are characterised by
transient land use, at the rural and urban boundaries: the land-use densities in these areas are still very
low, as is the density of roads;
D. « Rural areas » characterised by scattered settlements and large plots;
E. « Coastal zones » which are characterised by a relatively flat relief, low altitude near sea level. In
these areas, the water table outcrops and further complicates the sanitation situation.

  • For zones A and C, drainage networks or wastewater collection and treatment systems (domestic, commercial and industrial areas) as well as the construction of wastewater treatment plants will be put in place.
  • For zones B, D and E, micro-water treatment plants consisting of public latrines (in schools, hospitals,
    markets and other public places), individual latrines and individual septic tanks, and organisation of the faecal sludge disposal and treatment system will be favoured when population density, groundwater level or soil composition permit and make micro-station solutions viable; otherwise, it is a semi-collective sanitation system that will be put in place.

Build a sewage network in major cities

We will carry out feasibility studies for the establishment of a sewerage system separate from the storm-water and surface drainage system in territorial entities of more than 100,000 inhabitants. For this, the following actions will be initiated:

1– Conduct 10 feasibility studies, in collaboration with local university institutions, to set up a
collective sewage network in 10 test cities chosen by the State;
2 -Conduct 5 feasibility studies for the implementation of either a conventional wastewater treat
ment plant or an effluent treatment plant at the end of the collective sewage network according to the
living area and the types of habitat.
3-To build, on the basis of the recommendations from the feasibility studies, 2 structuring projects
of collective sewerage network (collection drains connected to the constructions until the appropriate
treatment plant) coming under the urban building site.

Setting up a cadastre of projects

We will set up a land register of all ongoing sanitation projects and programmes throughout the national territory. For this we will carry out the following actions:

1-Identify existing comprehensive collection and treatment systems in subdivisions (Type A
planned habitat areas):
a.List the types of drains used (concrete pipes, plastic pipes, sandstone pipes) and the capacity
of treatment plants;
b. Check the adaptability of these drains in relation to the load capacities envisaged in the devel
opment dimensioning, and if necessary, replace the said drains by appropriate pipes made of local
materials built of materials that respect the environment;
c.Check the suitability of the treatment plants in relation to the load capacities provided for in the
development sizing, and if necessary, strengthen their capacities;
2-List all existing sewage sludge treatment plants with a view to organising their collection and
exploitation sectors.