The horrible dust emanates from ongoing road rehabilitation on the highway in Bonaberi, Douala.

Businessmen, pedestrians, bike riders, petty traders, school children and inhabitants along the main highway in Bonaberi, Douala, daily gulp a good amount of dust from the ongoing rehabilitation work. Homes and businesses on the stretch from the Douala IV Council, passing through Ndobo to Bekoko, were recently flattened by Douala City Council bulldozers in order to widen the road following the new urban plan drawn up in 2015.

Inhabitants and users of the stretch who praised the authorities’ initiative to widen the road are however complaining of the horrible dust raised as a result of the work. Apart from painting their merchandise brown and rendering them unattractive to prospective buyers, it also plays down on their health as some of them catch cold, cough and catarrh, while others develop red and foaming eyes.

Mical Nguenamg, a petty trader near ‘Forêt Bar’ located along the stretch, said she endures the dust in order to make ends meet in her family, especially as she is a single parent. Bikeck Jean, a bike rider who braves the stretch several times daily, said the work is good but disorganised. He regretted that they carry out the work in patches instead of going progressively.  

However, the company carrying out rehabilitation work on the road has engaged in reducing the effects of the dust by watering the portion they work on. Though not frequently, it calms down the dust at least for an hour each time they pour water on the road. Bike riders, businessmen and other road users have however devised preventive measures that might spare them from any airborne disease. Bike riders most especially use nose masks and sunglasses while others use balms. Some tie their hair and put on dark dresses in order to look ‘neat’.