Railway transport: Contract on the digital maintenance of the Yaoundé-Douala railway signed.

The contract involving the putting in place of a digital pilot project for the maintenance of the Yaounde-Douala railway has been signed by the Minister of Transport, Jean Ernest Massena NGALLE BIBEHE and Director General of PEPPS Engineering SRL, Yannick Gilis.

This took place on September 20, 2023 in the Conference Room of the Ministry of Transport, with the participation of the Minister Delegate to the Minister of Transport, Minister Delegate to the Minister of Economy, Planning and Regional Development, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Belgium to Cameroon and a host of other dignitaries.

Establishing the importance of this contract which puts forth a project of 900,000 euro (approximately 680,000,000 FCFA), Minister Jean Ernest Massena NGALLE BIBEHE stated: “the sustainability of existing or planned infrastructures can only be guaranteed through an upkeep and maintenance policy. The Government of the Republic, through the Ministry I am in charge, has embarked on a modernization process and digitalization of the maintenance of these infrastructures.”

According to the Director of Railway in the Ministry of Transport, Claude MISSE NTONE, maintenance is presently being done in a mechanical manner; an individual needs to go to the field and identify a malfunction before intervention is made. The digital system which will be put in place will permit the anticipation of some shortcomings and also monitor maintenance from a distance. This will help save time and resources.

On what will be concretely done, the Director General of PEPPS Engineering SRL, Yannick Gilis, explained that his company will assist the Ministry of Transport in the digital maintenance of the Yaounde-Douala railway, wherein all paperwork in the maintenance process will henceforth be handled using computers and tablets, and information will be transmitted faster, which will help maintenance decision-makers act timely.

Minister Jean Ernest Massena NGALLE BIBEHE indulged the parties involved: Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Public Works, Ministry of Economy, Planning and Regional Development, CAMRAIL and PEPPS Engineering SRL, to mobilise all needed resources for the operationalization of the project within the set time.

Impact Échos News/CELCOM-MINT.