Cameroon:
Minister Blames Potable water scarcity, power outages on economic stagnation

The Minister of Water and Energy Resources, Gaston Eloundou Essomba has blamed the situation of acute potable water scarcity and irregular electricity supply on economic stagnation.

Eloundou Essomba made the disclosure at a recent press conference in Yaounde. According to the member of government water and electricity problems in Cameroon could be traced back to between 1990-2006 crisis.

“Our economy went through a period of stagnation between 1990 and 2006. During this period, investment in the public sector was frozen due to drastic reduction in state resources,” he told journalists.

He said there is urgent need for the development of several facilities to arrest the situation. He talked of the rehabilitation of 350 Cameroon Water Utilities Corporation, CAMWATER stations nationwide and investments in solar electricity. Technical studies Eloundou Essomba said, are almost complete.

According to reports, the government has allocated huge financial resources to find remedies to the ongoing water and electricity problems. However, the deteriorating conditions of water and energy supply remains disturbing in Yaounde.