Illegally occupying the Essengue district in Douala, these inhabitants have reached the deadline of rigor (February 28) given by the Autonomous Port of Douala.
The Autonomous Port of Douala (PAD) will expel 1500 people from Essengue. Rendered on March 1, 2022, the grace period granted to the last occupants of this district ends after a legal-administrative battle of nearly 10 years. The natives, supported by King Bell, say they were cheated by Decree No. 75/498 of 3 July 1975. Which sets the area of the port of Douala-Bonaberi at 335 hectares. Then amended in 1977 by Decree No. 77/414 of 20 October without determining its area. To date the port of Douala officially extends over an area of 1000 hectares.
These evictions are due to remediation and logistical work that the PAD intends to undertake. They consist of the improvement of the internal roads in order to allow a fluidity of the port traffic. In addition, the port also wants to build new storage areas and shops. These include the extension of the container terminal, the creation of a new secure vehicle fleet, the development of truck waiting areas, the creation of a new urban-port area, and a buffer zone between the city and the port.
Since 2016, the Autonomous Port of Douala has been engaged in a major operation to secure its space occupied in an anarchic way by the local community. From memory, in January 2018, 51 households were forcibly evicted in Essengue. They were evicted in favor of a project to build a road axis to serve the port. The eviction of these inhabitants was the subject of a concerted procedure between the Autonomous Port of Douala and the collective for the defence of the interests of the populations of the locality located in the PAD area.
