They have transformed this swampy part of Doauala into their habitat with all the attendant health risks.

For sometime now, people from different ethnic backgrounds in Cameroon have migrated to Douala to make their homes in Bois des singes in Bonapriso. The area reminds any average resident of the city of its cemetery and the refuse dumped there to add to its swampy nature.

Day after day, the population keeps swelling irrespective of the risks they face. So worrying is the fact that these people appear to care less about their present conditions.

In Bois the singes, the government has built a treatment centre to treat faeces from septic tanks and latrines. A truck empties the septic tanks and latrines and carries the waste to the treatment centre. The inhabitants complained that odour from the treatment centre is unbearable. They explained that sometimes the truck does not deposit the waste in the centre but pours it out on the road; thereby making movement difficult as the odour spreads everywhere.

Since Bois des singe is located below sea level, the place is often flooded. Though most of the people have built their houses in such a way that they cannot be flooded, the dirty water that comes from the river flows in front of their homes. Door fronts are therefore characterised by greenish, stagnant water that breeds mosquitoes that cause malaria. The inhabitants have decimated the mangroves for wood; so it is hard to get wood in the area today.

Above all, there is no good source of drinking water because the wells are not well treated and protected. They can easily contract water-borne diseases. The inhabitants are also at risk in case of an aircraft accident because the area it is close to the airport. Even the noise from the airport is a big nuisance.