|
Greener Journal
of Social Sciences Vol. 14(2), pp. 280-284, 2024 ISSN: 2276-7800 Copyright ©2024, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International. |
|
The Housing
Predicament in Cameroon
Kijem Joseph Yuh
|
ABSTRACT |
|||
This
work is an attempt to present some of the housing problems and related
hurdles in Cameroon. They are noticeable in financial matters, land
development and equipment issues, town planning, housing investments,
communication matters, hygienic conditions, the role of regional and
municipal council authorities, legal matters, land expropriation issues,
high house rents, issues relating to government-owned houses and land, low
housing allowances, homelessness, the role of unscrupulous housing agents,
etc. There is need to judiciously tackle them by involving all the
appropriate stakeholders (the government, banks, municipal council
authorities, housing experts or specialists, the public, etc). |
|||
|
ARTICLE’S
INFO |
|||
|
Article No.: 111324167 |
Accepted: 13/11/2024 Published: 13/12/2024 |
*Corresponding Author Kijem Joseph Yuh E-mail:
yuh750@gmail.com |
Keywords: |
|
|
|
|
|
Housing
issues are part of the important aspects of life in a country, etc.[1]
They involve a lot of material, human, financial and other resources. If they
are not well handled, they give rise to a series of problems. In Cameroon, these
problems are noticeable in financial matters, land development and equipment
issues, town planning, housing investments, communication matters, hygienic
conditions, the role of regional and municipal council authorities, legal
matters, etc.
The Cameroonian Government does not satisfy
the financial needs of civil
servants, etc who intend to build personal or family houses. Despite the
setting-up of Cr
dit Foncier du Cameroun (a government bank meant to handle
the funding of personal housing projects) in May 1977, a good number of the
clients of this bank find it very difficult to conveniently obtain housing
loans from the said bank. Just a few of its clients succeed in obtaining such
loans.
Worse still, the Cameroon Government does not
bother to put in place a meticulous or serious monitoring mechanism aimed at
guiding and assisting those who obtain housing loans from Crdit Foncier du Cameroun. They are left to
their own devices in terms of their housing expenditures derived from these
loans. It is in this light that a good number of them end up squandering or not
judiciously spending their loans.
Cameroon’s educational system has not been, and is still not, attaching much importance
to the construction of houses and related fields.[2]
This statement is partially justified by the fact that there are not enough
secondary schools or colleges which offer courses in the said domains.
Furthermore, a good number of the secondary schools which offer these courses
are ill-equipped in terms of human, material and financial resources.
The said lack of importance is also
observable in the courses dealing with the construction of houses and related
fields. Just like many courses in Cameroon’s schools, they are not sufficiently
and regularly reviewed pedagogically and didactically. They do not make enough
use of much needed foreign materials or contributions. They are not constantly
adapted to field realities in the building sites of Cameroon’s villages, towns,
etc.
Land
development and equipment for the purpose of building houses in Cameroon is quite
problematic. It is officially carried out by a structure (MAETUR - The Urban
and Rural Land Development and Equipment Authority) which is not sufficiently
present in the field in the entire country.[3]
In other words, its activities are limited to some parts of Cameroon,
especially urban areas.
Its activities in the field leave much to be
desired. In this connection, some of the pieces of land developed by it for
building purposes are poorly equipped. The lack of good and enough access roads
in a good number of pieces of land developed by MAETUR is quite illustrative of
this deplorable situation. Some of these roads are poorly paved or not paved
all at, leaving those who buy plots accessed by these roads in a state of dissatisfaction
or discontent.
The Cameroon Government has not made
available (through its real estate corporation) a substantial number of apartments
or houses to Cameroonians with low
incomes.[4] It
has constructed an insignificant number of such apartments or houses mostly in
big towns (Buea, Yaounde, Douala, etc). Furthermore, these structures, which
are meant for middle-class Cameroonians, are occupied, to some extent, by upper-class
Cameroonians. Most of them are very dirty and poorly maintained.
Many Cameroonians with low incomes find it
difficult to rent decent houses or apartments in Cameroon’s villages, cities,
etc. Most of the houses or apartments which could be rented by them are
sub-standard structures. They do not reflect the worth of Cameroonians (see
Banjul Charter).[5] They
have poor toilet facilities, unacceptable ventilation possibilities, unreliable
roofs, dirty walls, poor kitchen conditions, very limited playgrounds for
children, very small rooms, poorly maintained floors, etc.
The haphazard construction of houses or
apartments in Cameroon has seriously affected
town planning in its neighbourhoods, towns, villages, etc. To this end,
many houses have been built without taking into consideration the need for the
construction of drainage facilities, access roads, etc. Furthermore, a good
number of houses have been built in violation of many environmental
requirements.
Town planning experts or specialists are not
adequately consulted by the Cameroon Government and Cameroonians prior to the
construction of houses. Many Cameroonians believe that consulting the said
experts or specialists is unnecessary, expensive and a waste of time. That is
partially why the deplorable town planning situation described above prevails.
It is quite regrettable!
A good number of Cameroonians live in shanty towns or slums. Houses in these
areas do not resemble human dwellings. They were constructed without taking
into account architectural requirements and Article 25 (1) of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights.[6]
They have poor or no toilet facilities. Many of them cannot withstand very
harsh weather conditions (some downpours, erosions, floods, strong winds,
etc).They are eyesores in Cameroon’s urban areas.
The Cameroon Government does not have any
promising or convincing policy concerning the development of these shanty towns
or slums and the resettlement of their inhabitants. It does not make concrete
efforts to provide residents of these areas with a regular and permanent supply
of water, electricity, etc. In case of any destruction of their houses, there
are usually no promising resettlement activities for the victims of this
destruction.
The Cameroon Government is not satisfactorily
promoting local building materials.
Despite the presence of a structure meant for that purpose (MIPROMALO – Local
Materials Promotion Authority), there is not enough government promotion or
investment in terms of the availability and affordability of local building
materials.[7]
This promotion or investment is felt just in big towns. Rural areas are
abandoned to their own devices.
Cameroonians (workers, investors, etc) and
Cameroonian institutions involved in the promotion of local building materials
are not well treated by MIPROMALO in particular and the Cameroon Government in
general. In other words, their technical needs (in terms of training,
retraining, etc) and financial requirements (in terms of allowances, salaries,
loans for investment purposes, etc) are not fairly or judiciously handled by
MIPROMALO and the Cameroon Government.
Banks in Cameroon do not
encourage low-income or poor Cameroonians to build decent houses for themselves.[8]
In other words, they do not take into consideration the financial and social
situation of these Cameroonians when they offer housing loans to them. These
loans are granted with high interests. The said loans and interests are strenuously
paid by these low-income or poor Cameroonians.
Crédit
Foncier du Cameroun (CFC), a bank whose capital partly comes from civil servants,
does not take the right of these civil servants to live in decent houses
seriously. A good number of these civil servants do not have easy access to
housing loans from this bank. It is a giant financial or banking structure
which does not take its funding role in Cameroon’s housing sector seriously in
terms of a good number of aspects.
The hygienic
conditions of houses in Cameroon leave much to be desired.[9]
There is a lot of laxity or nonchalance as far as compliance with these
conditions is concerned. In this vein, the Cameroon Government has stubbornly
refused to emulate good sanitary supervision examples such as the worthy
activities of sanitary inspectors of former West Cameroon, inspectors who
ensured that the environment around houses was clean, toilets in houses were
clean, etc.
This lack of monitoring or supervision of
hygienic conditions in Cameroonian houses or homes has considerably exposed
them to poor hygienic life. It is in this light that a good number of houses in
Cameroon’s big towns randomly dispose of their sewage and other types of waste.
This deplorable situation renders the environment or atmosphere very unhealthy;
it stinks in an unbearable manner.
Many Cameroonians (business persons, family
heads, school proprietors, etc) do not regularly and frequently consult housing experts or specialists
(building technicians, architects, etc) within the confines of their housing
projects. They unfortunately believe that they can carry out all their building
projects in neighbourhoods, villages, towns, etc without relying on scientific
parameters or factors.
This regrettable situation has led to the
destruction (cases of collapse, cracks, damage to roofs, etc) of a good number
of apartments, multiple-storeyed buildings, market shops, hostels, etc. Some of
these cases of destruction have caused enormous human, material, psychological
and financial loss. Some of the victims of these losses in particular and
Cameroonians in general do not sufficiently learn from them and their causes.
A substantial number of municipal council authorities issue building permits in a
fraudulent and corrupt manner (they collect bribes from those in need of these
permits).[10] Some
of these building permits deal with building projects in areas not meant for
building or housing projects (for instance, marshy or swampy areas; risk zones;
industrial zones as far as human dwellings are concerned; areas reserved for
government projects; etc).
The
consequences of the aforementioned fraudulent and corrupt practice are quite
disastrous. Some of them are the haphazard construction of buildings in
neighbourhoods, villages, towns, etc; the lack of serious municipal council
supervision of some building or housing projects; the possibility of human and
material damage from buildings constructed with fraudulent permits; etc. Many
courts in Cameroon have handled, and are still handling, many legal issues pertaining to the sale of
building plots; the sale of residential structures (apartments, etc); the
validity of building permits; inheritance issues relating to houses; etc. Precisely
speaking, some of these issues concern the double sale of building plots and
residential structures; the fraudulent transfer of family houses to some family
members, etc.
The said issues have ruined a good number of
Cameroonians materially, financially, psychologically, morally, socially, etc.
In this connection, some Cameroonians who have rightfully invested in some
housing or building projects have been unjustly deprived of their investments
by some court verdicts. Furthermore, some Cameroonians have been unjustly stripped
of their family inheritance by some judges or magistrates.
On account of the foregoing presentation, it
could be inferred that Cameroon has serious problems in its housing sector and related
sectors, problems which considerably retard moves towards Sydney Smith’s
commendable perception of a comfortable house.[11]
This seriousness is further highlighted by some problems not discussed in this
article (land expropriation issues, high house rents, issues relating to
government-owned houses and land, low housing allowances, homelessness,
unscrupulous housing agents, etc). There is need to redress this dismal
situation.[12]
BIBLIOGRAPHY
A)
Articles
1)
Cambridge Dictionary, ‘’Housing’’
Available at: dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/housing
Consulted on: 17/6/24
2)
Everyday Old House (Misadventures of
an Average Homeowner), ‘’101+Inspiring Quotes about House and Home’’
Available at: everydayoldhouse.com/house-home-inspirational-quotes/
Consulted on: 24/11/23
3)
Mussa, C., ‘’Open Defecation in
Cameroon Increases Risk of Cholera’’
Available at:
globalpressjournal.com/africa/cameroon/open-defecation-in-cameroon-increases-risk-of-cholera/
Consulted on: 25/6/24
4)
Tsiele, C., ‘’ Enseignement Technique (Une Niche
d’Emplois à Découvrir)’’, Cameroun
Tribune, Yaounde, 11 March 2020, p.16
5)
Degha, I., ‘’Comment Obtenir un Permis de Bâtir au
cameroun
Available at: camerounservices.com/permis-de-batir-au-cameroun/
Consulted on: 27/6/24
B)
Legal Instruments
6)
African (Banjul) Charter on Human and Peoples’
Rights (1981)
7)
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
(1948)
|
Cite
this Article:
Kijem, JY (2024). The Housing Predicament in Cameroon. Greener Journal of Social Sciences,
14(2): 280-284, https://doi.org/10.15580/gjss.2024.2.111324167.
|