The Douala international airport, which remains the principal entrance into Cameroon, is speedily being refurbished to meet desired international standards. The unruly crowds of vendors that, before now, thronged the boarding hall with trays of eggs, groundnuts, cola nuts, fruits and telephone cards have been barred from the vicinity. Dozens of clandestine currency exchange agents, who sometimes heavily duped travellers, and chunks of egoistic brokers, who oscillated between travellers and custom officials, have also been banned from the locality.

“Before now, the airport had become a hub of anarchy where hawkers, beggars, pilferers and conmen made life difficult for travellers,” the director of the Douala international airport, Olivier Francis Etoa Mondoman, said. “To guarantee the security of the airport users,” he continued, “the general manager of Cameroon airports (ADC), in collaboration with the government, decided last November 20 to give the airport a desirable facelift by creating separate parking lots for VIPs and the general public, repairing existing toilets, ventilating the main seating rooms and chasing out undesired elements far from the airport.”

According to Mr. Etoa, taxis and other public transport vehicles must not drive to the doorsteps of the boarding room, where they hitherto created traffic jam and unspeakable public disorder. He said the cars are supposed to leave their clients at the newly constructed public parking lot, situated at the left flank of the airport. Culprits, he emphasized, would be fined FCFA 10,000. The director also stressed that only taxi drivers, hoteliers and currency exchange agents who are duly recognized by the airport administrators would do business at the airport.

Mr Etoa said satisfied with the efforts being made by the gendarmerie and police officers, as well as the determination of the government to collaborate with the ADC in order make the Douala international airport a tourist site. He urged judicial officers and public administrators to collaborate with the airport management. The airport, which was inaugurated in June 1977 had before now resembled an abode of pigs.

source:quotidienCameroonTribune du 01/12/09