Interview NIWA LONG Othon, General Manager Matgenie

THE NEED TO REMAIN PROFESSIONAL

The National Civil Engineering Material Pool has made its mark in almost the entire country for several months now. Douala-Bonaberi, Yaounde-Etoudi, Binguela, Mbalngong… On the whole, this has to do with opening up of roads, grading, creation and maintenance of earth roads, not mentioning the tasks executed daily by the Regional Branches with individuals and municipal authorities. If this, in itself, is not a sign of vitality, then at least it is evidence that requests for the company’s services –civil engineering work- are on the increase. At the same time, it is important to ensure that the production plant, which is the equipment pool, adheres to standards; ensure the proper running of the company and look to the future. That is how MATGENIE has functioned during the first nine months of the year 2016, and which shall be discovered through this interview with the General Manager NIWA LONG Othon in this edition of MATGENIE-MAGAZINE.

MAT-MAG:

Let us begin with what could be considered a hot topic, as the months of August, September, October and part of November are considered dead months when talking of road maintenance, due to the fact that the rains are very heavy during this period. How does MATGENIE handle this down time on the field?

General Manager: The rain and the execution of civil engineering work do not go well together. When it rains, run-off water destroys everything in its way because at that time the soil is not yet firm, in spite of the compacting that has been done there. That is the reason why nothing solid enough can be done in the rainy season. Usually, during this time we seize the opportunity to take the material back to the base for maintenance.

Unfortunately, ¾ of Cameroon are situated in areas of higher rainfall with long rainy seasons. However, we are obliged to deal with it. On days of heavy rainfall, we stop work, and resume when the weather is better. As you can expect, this causes serious losses owing to the fact that work reduces by more than half and our revenue is affected negatively.

MAT-MAG

MATGENIE is currently working on the site that will host the new administrative centre of Etoudi in Yaounde, while at the same time developing the site for the assembly of vehicles in Bonaberi, Douala. They are both large-scale interventions. Can you tell us more about MATGENIE’S presence on the different sites since the beginning of 2016?

General Manager: In terms of size, the opening up of roads for the new administrative centre in Etoudi and the site for the assembly of heavy-duty and light-duty vehicles in Bonaberi, Douala constitute some of our great achievements in 2016. With regard to our work in Bonaberi, I would like to humbly highlight the plaudits made by the Minister of Mines, Industries and Technological Development during his visit to the site. We outreached ourselves for this project backed by the Indian group CAIC to materialize. In the beginning there was no access road to the area to be opened up. We had to build a road dyke to get there. It was done on a 420m-stretch, although it was not part of the contract that we signed with the State. It took us two long months to build this dyke. The main work of opening up the site began in September ending. It was after seeing the work that had already been done that the MINMITD was satisfied. Let me remind you that we funded the work ourselves. Every time I have the opportunity, I transmit the Minister’s message of satisfaction to all our technicians working on the site and to all the staff of MATGENIE. However, I expect our technical team to remain as professional, why not more.

As concerns the opening up of roads for the new administrative centre in Etoudi, Yaounde, we would have made greater progress if MATGENIE was not faced with some difficulties beyond its control. I am talking about roads which we have to open up but which are occupied by buildings under construction in that area. This slows down our work rhythm and affects deadlines. The follow-up committee for this project headed by Mr. EBANG MVE Urbain Noël, Secretary General in the Ministry of Lands, Survey and State Property is perfectly aware of the situation and has taken measures that will surely enable us make progress with little difficulty. I am regularly on the field to motivate the teams.

We talk much about Bonaberi and Etoudi, but at the same time we have several other projects that we started at the beginning of 2016 such as: opening-up the whole Binguela area in Mbankomo sub-division; we are in the second phase of opening up roads for a housing estate in Mbalngong , on the outskirts of Yaounde; not to mention the Regional Agencies that are called upon for numerous projects.

MAT-MAG:More than a year ago, you started an evaluation of the Agencies to determine their production capacity. Why is nothing being said about it anymore?

General Manager: We have not stopped the evaluation. It is not made public, that’s all. However, we make available to Branch Managers the general production situation, while addressing any existing problems and where appropriate, congratulating those who deserve it. This creates healthy competition in the entire network and boosts production on the whole.

MAT-MAG: What is the state of rehabilitation of the Training Centre for Mechanics in Douala?

General Manager: Rehabilitation on the Training Centre for Mechanics in Douala has been completed: the buildings, classrooms and administrative blocks have all been refurbished. The necessary didactic material has been purchased and is waiting to be delivered. After this is done, we will plan the launching of the entrance exam.

MAT-MAG:When is the official opening of the MATGENIE base in Kribi?

General Manager: The MATGENIE base in Kribi is one of our priorities for 2017. This project is important to us based on the place the town of Kribi holds today in terms of investment. When we talk of investment here, it undoubtedly brings to mind the execution of public works, in which we major.

MAT-MAG: How do you assess the services of the Akonolinga base that has been operational for about two years?

General Manager: It is a good experience. In two years we have measured the degree of efficiency of proximity from a representation of users. This is a test that is indispensable for future MATGENIE structures.

MAT-MAG: On the administrative level, has biometrics resolved the issue of lateness and absence of staff once and for all?

General Manager: Biometrics has not completely resolved disciplinary issues. This is because indicating on arrival every morning and when leaving in the afternoon is not enough. We know that some workers arrive at 7:30am, indicate on the biometrics kit and go about other activities out of MATGENIE and only return at 3:30pm to repeat the exercise. In theory, they were present and on time, but in reality it is not true. That is why we are now trying to find a method to check the effective presence of every worker at their duty post, and possibly find out later what each of them did within eight hours.

The biometrics has, however, made everyone conscious of the need to be at work on time and not to leave before time without permission.

MAT-MAG: Based on all that has been said about a part of MATGENIE’s life, what mark will you give the staff on 20?

 General Manager: I will simply give them a PASS mark. I do not know what this mark represents, but at least I know that what has been done up till now is good. All I ask of the entire staff, at all levels, is to remain professional in all we are expected to do.

Interview by André GUIMVOUM