By Andre Marie DIBAMOU
Yaounde, Cameroon for iCameroon.com
One of the most populated areas in the city of Yaounde is the Bonamoussadi neighborhood which is inhabited by close to ten thousand students according to the recent estimations of the Yaounde city council authorities. The Bonamoussadi student residential area commonly called “Bonnas’’ has witnessed a rapid influx of students over the past years. It harbors students of top institutions of the country such as Polytechnic, the School of Post and Telecommunications, the Advance School of Mass Communication the University of Yaounde 1, just to name but a few. House owners in this area have also make huge profits from their “mini cites” which are in high demand.
Bad living conditions in Bonamoussadi-Yaounde
Despite the great fortune that this so called land lords reap from students, little or nothing is done to change the face of the structures in this area to give them a better look. These dilapidating structures are sometimes maintained by the students who have no forgone alternative. These landlords have deliberately refused to carry on maintenance work, as all that interest them is the collection of rents. Some even flex muscles with students just to collect rents. A single building in this area contains 12-16 external rooms with very few windows, and these rooms range from five to fifteen thousand FCFA.
It is common to see in this area that a whole compound of at least fifteen rooms has only a single toilet. All the renters should struggle to manage the single existing latrine. Paul Mbarga has been studying History at the University of Yaounde One for two years now, he explains how unbearable the life there and describes how at times students are obliged to wait in a line to use the toilet.” “The situation is even worst in the morning. Everybody wants to bath the first since we are all students,” he added.
Congestion is a serious problem in this area. It has lead to poor ventilation and lighting, and as such these students cannot read in their rooms during the day without putting on lights. Some people even construct in swampy areas which are very risky zones during the rainy seasons as these areas are always covered with waters from over flooded streams.
For their grievances to be taken into consideration not only by the land lord but also by the government authorities, the students have decided to obtain the reduction of their rent. From height thousand, it is possible to have a room in Bonamoussadi at 4000frs.
