Aménagement des marchés et risques d’incendies dans la commune d’arrondissement de Yaoundé II

Abstract

In recent decades, spectacular fires have ravaged markets in African capitals and cities, calling into question the governance and quality of the development of market facilities in Africa. In Cameroon, there have been several cases of fires in the markets of major cities. In the markets of the political capital of Cameroon, and particularly in the markets of the Yaoundé II district (Mokolo, Mbankolo and Madagascar), the phenomenon of fires in market spaces is still a reality. Based on a questionnaire and an interview guide, data were collected from 160 traders and 30 staff of the structures in charge of managing the markets and traders respectively. The results of the field survey show that the state of market development in the Yaoundé II district is characterized by insufficient and outdated infrastructure and equipment, cramped market spaces and traffic, and anarchic occupancy patterns in a very densely populated environment. The data analysis also reveals a lack of organization of the various commercial activities in the market areas, since there is uncontrolled development of certain "risky" activities in common areas. Although the city council remains the main manager of the current markets in the municipality, there is a plurality of institutional, private and commercial actors. The lack of coordination and dialogue between these different actors leads to isolated and ineffective interventions in the improvement of market development. In addition, the precariousness of the infrastructure and equipment, the overcrowding of traders and the anarchy of the installations of the trading spaces constitute the main risk factors for fires in the markets. Several market redevelopment, renovation and reorganization operations have been undertaken and carried out, but on analysis, they remain highly insufficient. However, other actions, which we believe to be fundamental, can be associated with them to control the risk of fire in the markets of the Yaoundé II district. These include participatory governance of markets, modernization of market spaces, and the definition of a global and collective fire risk management plan that is based on three levels of intervention: assessment of fire risks in markets, fire risk prevention and crisis management.