Douala: Truck drivers block East entrance to ‘protest daytime ban’

The East entrance into Cameroon’s economic capital, Douala was blocked by heavy-duty truck drivers last night, making it hard for other vehicles to go through.

The congestion is said to have generated from the fact that the trucks are prohibited from playing the road or entering the town during the daytime. As such, scores of trucks scrambled to enter the town at night, causing the congestion.

Some road users however believe it was an intentional act by the drivers in a bid to show their dissatisfaction with the decision.

“The Yaoundé-Douala road has been blocked and there is no going out or coming in…,” a road user told Mimi Mefo Info moments ago.

“The truck drivers,” he believes, “decided to block the road asking that the decision limiting their circulation be changed”.

“The ones that were blocked yesterday morning have refused to go in the night. They have blocked the road so that even small vehicles are not entering nor coming out,” another source told Mimi Mefo Info.

It should be recalled that the trucks were prohibited from plying the highway by day to minimize road accidents as well as traffic congestion.

The decision however didn’t go down well with the truck drivers. Some say the decision compels them to take shorter time for longer distances just so as to get into Douala before the required time.

“A driver will leave Bertoua and try to by all means possible enter Douala in the night for fear of being blocked in the morning”.

This, they add, has not only made their job more demanding, but increases the probability of road accidents happening on the Yaounde-Douala highway.

Mimi Mefo Info