Fish Sector:Bad Practices In Douala Reduce by 90%

Authorities in the Douala II Subdivision saluted Minepia staff’s efforts Wednesday.
Dry, fresh and smoked fish from the main production zone in Youpwe located in the Douala II municipality have witnessed 90 per cent reduction in bad practices that use to put consumers at the losing end. Fishermen used poisonous substances in order to catch more fish than usual, they also caught small-sized fishes which according to their profession is uncalled-for. Traders who bought fish for smoking used bad smoking methods and material like white wood, worn-out plastic buckets, plates and chairs, worn-out tyres and old dresses which provoked health hazards.
However, the Sub-Divisional Delegate of Livestock, Fisheries and Animal Industry for Douala II, Alain Ghomsi, waged a war against the bad practices by fishermen and traders, seizing and destroying huge quantities of fresh and smoked fish from perpetrators. Ghomsi and his team carried out sensitisation campaigns bringing out the negative consequences of the use of toxic products and materials to catch and smoke fish respectively. The team of veterinary doctors and sanitary inspectors went round telling all who cared to hear that the use of toxic substance destroys health, and advised them to use wood from fruit tree, dry cocoa pods, dry plantains peelings and groundnut peelings among others for smoking.
Since the rigorous sensitisation campaigns and crackdown on fishermen and vendors intensified, bad practices, according to Alain Ghomsi, has reduced by 90 per cent. To crown their efforts, the Divisional Officer for Douala II, Bakary Garba, dispatched letters of congratulations to the team March 9th. To reach a 98 per cent target, a vigilante committee involving stakeholders was created to report any suspicious act. Fishermen, smoked fish vendors and fresh fish cleaners have been identified by numbered jackets to easily trace defaulters. Following the 2000 law regulating sanitary inspection, perpetrators will pay between FCFA 50,000 and FCFA five million as fine or jailed for between two and six years with hard labour.
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Cameroon Tribune du lundi, 14 mars 2016.

Cameroon defeat Egypt 2-1 at the Reunification Stadium in Bépanda on Saturday March 12, 2016.
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Cycling Race Of Cameroon: Morocco Dominates Competition

They won the first two laps of the race through Mohamed Essaid and Saadoune Abdelati respectively.
Morocco has proven they are out for business at the ongoing 13th edition of the International Cycling Tour of Cameroon. They have so far won the first two laps of the race and conserve the yellow jersey of the leader of the competition. Moroccan born, Er Rafai Mohamed Essaid Amione, won the first lap of the race on Saturday 12 March 2016 run between Ayos and Yaounde while his fellow country man, Saadoune Abdelati again won the second lap of the race which took place between Pouma and Kribi, yesterday.
With the winner of the last edition of the Grand Prix Chantal Biya and the cycling tour of Côte d’Ivoire, Lahsaini Mouhsine yet to say his last word in the competition, it is certain that Morocco will be team to watch in this year’s edition of the race. However, Cameroon is turning the heat on the Moroccans as a Cameroonian, Mbah Herve Raoul came second in the first lap and Tekou fokou Damien, third in the second lap yesterday 13 March 2016 behind Palcak Jozef from Switzerland in the second position.
On the general classification, Rafai Essaid Amine maintains the top position despite emerging 19th during the second lap yesterday. Mbah Hervé Raoul, the first Cameroonian on the general classification table is second with 2 minutes, six seconds behind the race bearer of the yellow jersey while Yemeli Pichele Herman is third on the general classification. In the team classification, Cameroon is third behind Morocco and Bansa Bysterica of Switzerland in the first and second positions respectively.
The race enters the third lap today to be run between Kribi and Douala over a distance of 173km which is the longest. The topography is fairly flat from the beginning to the end and could still favour Moroccans who are good rollers and sprinters. However, Cameroon may take their chance on Morocco when the race gets to the mountainous part of the country as Cameroon has good climbers like last year winner, Kamzong Abessolo alias ‘epistolero’.
There have been some hitches recorded in this edition of the race which got up to a promising start at Ayos where the population turned out massively. Upon arrival in Yaounde, around Nkoabang, there were no security officers on the way to control traffic and the race caravan was perturbed by unscrupulous motorists which were not to the taste of the race referee who made it known.
Also, there was no vehicle with a sound system to herald the arrival of the race caravan which led to a poor attendance on the road sides by spectators as has been the case in the past. Drivers and security officials also complained of staying up late to receive fuel which infers on the departure time that has always been behind the schedule since the beginning of the race.
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Buea (Fako) - An initiative by Buea Council in Fako Division of the South West Region recently brought joy to 250 students who did some manual work for the municipality.
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This was the major outcome of the school’s recent Board meeting.
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Menka (Mezam) - On the strength of a recent decision by the Minister of Territorial Administration and Decentralization, Menka is now formally recognised as the 13th village in Santa Subdivision .....
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Chief Daniel Matta Mokambe was elected on March 4, 2016, during an extra-ordinary council session.
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South West: EISERVI Donates Books To Kumba Library

Kumba (Meme) - Children on holidays in Meme Division in the South West Region now have more books to keep them busy. This follows the recent offer of books by a non-profit organization that is working in partnership with the Kumba City Council. The launch of the Ann Gabonay Library which took place recently was presided by the Senior Divisional Officer for Meme, Koulbout Aman David.
During the exercise, the Government Delegate to the Kumba City Council, Victor Ngoh Nkelle, lauded the initiative of EISERVI charity, saying the coming of the library will help improve the reading culture of students and pupils in Kumba and its environs, especially at a time when an increasing number of school children are unable to read their names.
Victor Ngoh Nkelle said the deal was part of President Paul Biya’s idea of public-private partnership which he instructed earlier. The Government Delegate concluded that the advent of television and social media has killed the reading culture in Cameroon, with most children spending time watching movies.
According to the Executive Director of EISERVI, Andrew Nyenty, similar libraries have been opened in Mamfe, Buea, Dschang and Yaounde. Book Aid International in the United Kingdom provides more than 60,000 books to Cameroon every year. EISERVI also this year celebrated children’s open-door corner on the theme, “Read the world.” The project seeks the creation of safe spaces in libraries and communities to support the promotion of reading and learning in children, while helping them with the foundation necessary for meaningful adulthood.
It should be noted that the Ann Gabonay Library is the fourth library in Cameroon with which EISERVI has worked to refurbish space, design children-friendly furniture, paint attractive murals and provide brand new children’s books. By the end of 2016, Book Aid International and EISERVI hope to set up six more children’s corners in libraries in Kumbo, Mbengwi, Bafut and Belo in the North West Region and Ekondo Titi and Tiko in the South West Region.
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Commentary: Need For Accrued Vigilance

The Minister for Public Health last Friday ordered the immediate withdrawal of two hot-selling antibiotics from the market. The drugs in question are the orange-red Amoxverse capsules and the red-orange Ampiverse of the amoxicillin and ampicillin families. The curious thing about these two drugs is that they are very familiar to many users, notably those who, generally in the difficulty of access to recognized drugs, turn to them with their easy access since they are sold on the streets.
These antibiotics of the ampicillin and amoxicillin families are in widespread use throughout Africa and are well known in Cameroon. The fact that their devastating effects have only been recently discovered, as per the act of the Minister of Public Health, clearly indicates that much harm had been done to the countless citizens in search of quality medicines. This brings back the whole issue of street side medicines to the table.
Over the years, the government has come up with several initiatives to dissuade citizens from buying street side medicines just as it has also organized many campaigns to talk about the dangers of same, especially with regard to the origins of these medicines, their composition – which in many cases, does not comply with basic medical standards – and the conditions under which they are sold, because in many instances, these are exposed to the scotching heat as these are sold in open spaces along the streets and as such cause wide-ranging changes in chemical composition.
The Minister had never gone this far in his plea for a change of attitudes toward the consumption of street side medication. The fact that he very specifically and pointedly talked of the dangers posed by the use of these particular drugs on sale marks a new beginning in the fight against these drugs and is an initiative that must be taken up with the other important actors of the drug marketing sector. For, health cannot be the issue of the Minister alone.
All those involved in the drug distribution chain are therefore called to order and must form part of the watchdog in ensuring that only quality drugs are sold to a people already suffering under a groaning burden of poverty and which requires that the small money they have must be used in a way as to obtain the best results. By specifically naming the incriminated drugs was a way of putting a finger in the wound, unlike in the past when the phenomenon has been addressed in a general manner.
It is now necessary for all the stake-holders of the sector – health services administrators, drug manufacturers, drug control agencies and beneficiaries of health services – to mount a campaign to ensure that what is old or proposed to those in need is of quality and is adapted to what is sought after.
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Nobody was in at the time of the disaster, which also worsen traffic congestion in the area.
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This is thanks to a 460.5 million FCFA project funded by the European Union through UNICEF.
http://cameroon-tribune.cm/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=94982:far-north-over-8000-displaced-children-returned-to-school&catid=4:societe&Itemid=3

After escaping Boko Haram attacks, displaced and refugee children have been absorbed in school through European Union and UNICEF support.
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They are acquiring generating sets as the situation looks set to continue till August.
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Editorial Comment: Curative Prevention

The long awaited rains have finally arrived in the southern part of Cameroon sending farmers back to their farms with seeds and seedlings. It is awaited in the northern part of the country in the next three months. The rain in effect represents one of the complexities of nature. It brings happiness just as it can bring sorrow. That is nature. T
he producer of the famous Botswana firm, “the gods must be crazy” describes it as a thing that has refused to adjust to man’s desires but that is forcing man to rather adjust to its own desires. This is certainly the spirit behind the “Emergency Project to Fight against Flood-PULCI” which the government officially launched in Yagoua in the Far North Region on Friday, March 11. In effect, government is readjusting to the desires of rain which comes along with a series of mishaps, the most common in the northern regions, being flood.
Memories have not stopped being fresh on the disaster caused by the sudden overflowing of Lake Maga in the far North Region in 2012, precisely in the Mayo-Danay Division. The incident brought untold misery ejecting the inhabitants of Simatou, Silawe, Tabadai, Ziam I, Ziam II and Ziam III from their family niches, forcing them to first settle in a school building in Guirvidig, about 25 kilometres from Maga before being resettled in a camp at the little village of Farahoulou.
Over 22,000 people were displaced by the uninvited guest from the Maga reservoir dam, property destroyed and schools disrupted. This situation left no one indifferent including President Biya and Wife who immediately organised a three-day visit to the area during which the Head of State took the engagement to give a lasting solution to the problem of flood both in the Far North and the North Regions.
The launching of PULCI last Friday is a logical implementation of the President’s engagement, a commitment supported by the World Bank as translated by its readiness to disburse FCFA 54 billion for its financing. The target set by the project that is already under execution is preventive but can be curative. Some of the components of the project include the reinforcement of the Logone and Maga dams, construction of residential houses to hoist victims, and rehabilitation of rice farms.
The two northern regions, particularly, the Far North Region is the area most starred by famine. That the emergency project takes ample consideration of food supply is something worthy of praise. Already hit by the Boko Haram insurgency, the Far Naorth Region in particular merits such a project.
Recent statistics on food insecurity are to say the least, disgustful. In 2015, the cereal deficit increased from 120,000 metric tons to 150,000. About 12,000 cattle died and several thousands of goats as well. The Boko Haram attacks have incidentally disrupted agricultural activities exposing the region to more food insecurity. The situation will certainly be worse should the two dams; Logone and Maga overflow their bounds.
This explains why stakeholders in the execution of PULCI must demonstrate a sense of seriousness knowing that they will be held responsible should some disaster once more have far reaching effects on the population.
http://cameroon-tribune.cm/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=94979:editorial-comment-curative-prevention&catid=1:politique&Itemid=3

The Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Mines has presented a study on dairy production in the North West, West, Littoral and South West Regions.
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The Italian church-based NGO is arguably the most influential developmental mover in that part of the South-West Region.
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The Resident Representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Cameroon, Simon Brooks, has expressed gratitude to government for its openness ......
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Ministers Chief Dr. Joseph Dion Ngute and Issa Tchiroma Bakary visited the Commonwealth Exhibition Village in Yaounde on March 11, 2016.
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The Gendarmerie Boss, Jean Baptiste Bokam, presided over the installation ceremony on March 11, 2016 in Yaounde.
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